HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Departmental Finance Directors

Christopher Huhne: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what the  (a) name,  (b) professional and academic qualifications and  (c) relevant experience are of the House of Commons finance director.

Nick Harvey: The House's director of finance and administration since 1997 is Andrew Walker. He has over 20 years experience in the Inland Revenue and HM Treasury in a variety of tax and management positions. He is assisted in his duties as finance director by appropriately qualified and experienced staff in the Financial Management Directorate. He is due to complete an accountancy qualification course (CIPFA) during 2007-08.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Martin Horwood: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what recent estimates have been made of the level of greenhouse gas emissions produced by the House estate in the form of  (a) carbon dioxide,  (b) methane,  (c) nitrous oxide,  (d) tetrafluoromethane,  (e) hexafluoroethane and  (f) sulphur hexafluoride.

Nick Harvey: The total quantity of carbon dioxide emissions produced on, or attributable to, the House of Commons element of the parliamentary estate in 2005-06 is estimated at 10,300 tonnes. The released quantities of the other five greenhouse gasses are not measured but the quantities are estimated to be small.

Parliamentary Papers

David Amess: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission if he will make it his policy to ensure that unnumbered Command Papers are indexed in PIMS, together with their location and date of publication; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Harvey: The Library already indexes all unprinted Command Papers in PIMS. Unprinted (or unnumbered) commands appear in the Vote as being laid "by Command", (as opposed to "by Act"), and are treated accordingly. They are given running numbers which start each session, for ease of retrieval. These numbers appear in PIMS. Each unprinted Command Paper is also retrievable by subject, issuing department, date or name of organisation etc.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Rural Post Offices

Philip Dunne: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps he will be taking to encourage cross-departmental working on the future of rural post offices.

John Prescott: As Chairman of the Cabinet Committee on the Post Office Network (MISC 33) set up in May of this year, I have a key role in bringing together different Departments to discuss issues relating to rural post offices and to deliver agreement on actions.
	The Government remains committed to rural post offices as demonstrated by our £750 million package of support—£150 million per year for five years to 2008—through the Social Network Payment.
	I will continue to work with ministerial colleagues to ensure that Government policy-making in this area is coordinated effectively.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Honour Crimes

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Solicitor-General what work the Crown Prosecution Service is doing in relation to crimes known as honour crimes.

Mike O'Brien: The CPS is determined that when these crimes are uncovered they will be prosecuted firmly, fairly and robustly. The CPS wishes to encourage victims and witnesses of honour crimes to come forward and send out a message that this behaviour will not be tolerated. They are working closely with partners in the criminal justice system and the community and voluntary sector to raise awareness and develop strategies for tackling and preventing honour crimes.

Sentencing

Keith Vaz: To ask the Solicitor-General if he will assess how the Crown Prosecution Service can better inform victims about the length of a sentence given to a criminal.

Mike O'Brien: The Prosecutors' Pledge, introduced by the Attorney-General in October 2005, requires prosecutors to support victims from point of charge through to any appeal. The Pledge underpins the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime, implemented in April 2006. The Code requires Witness Care Units to explain to victims the effect of the sentence within one working day. Further information may be provided to victims who require it by the CPS or the Probation Service.

Craig Sweeney

Martyn Jones: To ask the Solicitor-General if he will refer the case of Craig Sweeney to the Court of Appeal as an unduly lenient sentence.

Mike O'Brien: My right hon. Friend the Attorney-General is considering the papers in this case, and will reach a decision shortly. As in all cases of this type, he has to comply with a strict time limit of 28 days from the date the sentence was passed in making his decision.
	The power to refer is exercised in the public interest. The Attorney will make his decision purely on the merits of the case and not in response to political or public pressure.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Departmental Finance Directors

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the  (a) name,  (b) professional and academic qualifications and  (c) relevant experience are of the finance director of his Department.

Gareth Thomas: Richard Calvert is Director of Finance and Corporate Performance at DFID. He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and has a masters degree in law. He has held a range of policy and operational posts in DFID including serving in the UK Delegation to the EU in Brussels, as Private Secretary to the Secretary of State, and as Head of the Information and Civil Society Department.
	Before taking up his present post in September 2003, he worked on secondment as Head of Service Quality in the Children, Schools and Families Directorate at Hertfordshire county council.

Departmental Websites

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many websites there are within his responsibilities; and what the total cost of maintaining such websites was in the last year for which figures are available.

Gareth Thomas: The information requested is as follows:
	 Overall costs maintaining DFID websites are as follows:
	Main DFID website and two country office sites—£127,097 for 2005.
	Developments magazine—£11,500 for 2005.
	Research for Development portal—£293,464 set up costs for 2005.
	 Specialist audience sites include:
	AIDSPortal—£355,000 since 2004.
	Sending Money Home—£9,650 to set up. There are no maintenance costs.
	Good Humanitarian Donorship initiative—£1,500 to set up. There are no maintenance costs.
	Financial Deepening Challenge Fund's website—average costs are £2,000 per year.
	Illegal-Fishing.info—£40,000 to maintain in 2005.
	Asia 2015 Conference website—£14,000 to set up and maintain in 2005.
	PASS Livelihoods—£36,824 from October 2005-September 2006
	The Business Linkages Challenge Fund—£2,565 for January-December 2005.
	EC-PREP—£2,500 for January-December 2005.
	There are a number of websites set up as part of DFID funding to contractors or professional organisations. Contractors are responsible for maintaining these and have therefore not been included here. Figures are included as part of the overall contract.

HIV/AIDS

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on the recent UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS.

Gareth Thomas: The United Nations General Assembly High Level Meeting agreed a Political Declaration which met virtually all of the UK's objectives, including: committing countries to develop, by the end of 2006, ambitious national plans to scale up towards universal access by 2010 to comprehensive HIV prevention programmes, treatment, care and support, with interim targets for 2008; to ensure that no credible, sustainable national plan should go unfunded, recognising the need to provide from donor countries, national budgets and other sources $20-23 billion annually by 2010 for AIDS responses; and to intensify efforts to develop new technology especially microbicides and vaccines.

Middle East

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  what discussions he has had with his counterparts from Arab states regarding their potential contribution to the temporary international mechanism to channel assistance directly to the Palestinian people;
	(2)  what discussions he has had with his EU counterparts about the sums of money the EU expects to commit to the temporary international mechanism to channel assistance directly to the Palestinian people set out in the European Council Presidency Conclusions of 15 and 16 June.

Gareth Thomas: The UK has encouraged contributions to the temporary international mechanism for Palestinian basic needs from the European Union, Arab donors and other members of the international donor community. The European Community is making a contribution of €105 million. We are expecting individual EU member states to release statements regarding their contributions shortly. The mechanism is open to any donor that wishes to contribute.

Plant Breeding

Michael Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  what funding has been allocated by his Department to strengthen public sector research on seed varieties  (a) in the UK and  (b) overseas; and if he will ask the World Bank to increase its lending for such projects;
	(2)  if he will list the public sector projects his Department has funded for plant breeding in developing countries in the last three years;
	(3)  whether his Department has  (a) undertaken and  (b) commissioned research into (i) the extent of the role of the private sector within the global seed industry and (ii) the impact of the private sector's role on (A) developing new plant varieties for poor farmers and (B) the diversity of genetic resources available to public plant breeders.

Gareth Thomas: DFID has allocated a total of £15.8 million to support public sector research on improved seed varieties, including plant breeding, over the past three years. The vast majority of research supported has been carried out overseas, with some advanced research being carried out at UK institutions, including the John Innes centre and the university of Leeds.
	DFID is already working with the World Bank and other donors to see how we can increase the quality and quantity of aid given for agricultural research. For example, we are working in Africa to support regional agricultural research programmes. We expect this will lead to increased grants and loans for research from the World Bank and other donors. We expect some of these funds will be used to support plant breeding and development of new seed varieties that meet the needs of poor farmers.
	DFID's Plant Sciences Research Programme managed by the centre for arid zone studies at the university of Wales at Bangor allocated £3.6 million over the last three years for plant breeding research with overseas partners. This included work on: resistance of pearl millet to downey mildew, nematode resistance of rice, banana and potato, aluminium tolerance in wheat, new breeding methods based on farmer participation in design and selection of varieties of rice, maize and cassava, and genetic marker assisted methods for pearl millet improvement.
	DFID also provides core funding to the international agricultural research centres of the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). Centres vary in the proportion of their budgets devoted to plant breeding. Of the core support DFID has given to centres, over the last three years, we estimate that £12.2 million has been used to support research on plant breeding and improving crop varieties for the benefit of poor people in developing countries.
	DFID has not undertaken, or commissioned, research into the extent of, and impact on, the role of the private sector within the global seed industry. However policy research has been carried out which examined the pros and cons of revenue generation from public plant breeding and links to the private sector. (Tripp and Byerlee 2000, http://www.odi.org.uk/NRP/57.html). DFID is also supporting the Seeds of Development Programme managed by the university of Cornell. The purpose of this programme is to better understand the role of private sector in achieving agricultural growth which benefits poor people by improving their access to better quality seeds.

Somaliland

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assistance his Department has provided to Loughborough university's water engineering development centre in its work on developing Somaliland's water programme.

Gareth Thomas: We are aware of Loughborough university's links with Somaliland. We do not support these directly but are funding a number of projects with UNICEF who have supported some of Loughborough university's activities in Somaliland. UNICEF also undertake considerable work in water and sanitation with the authorities in Somaliland on behalf of DFID and a number of other donors.

Water Provision

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the role of private companies in delivering water in developing nations.

Gareth Thomas: DFID's assessment is that there are circumstances when the private sector can play a role in meeting the needs of poor people. This is because, in spite of extensive technical assistance, public water utilities in developing countries have found it difficult to improve their performance and outreach. This has come about for a variety of reasons that we need to understand and learn from. DFID continuously assesses and learns from examples of public and private sector participation in delivering water.
	There are good and bad examples of both public and private service provision. The best approach often involves partnerships between the public sector, the private sector and communities. An important factor for success is effective regulation, with enforceable contracts that set out clearly what is expected. One example is a four-year public-private partnership in South Africa focusing on poor rural communities, which has brought water to more than nine million people in five provinces.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Animal Experiments

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what funding the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research received in 2005-06  (a) in total,  (b) from the Medical Research Council,  (c) the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council,  (d) from pharmaceutical companies and  (e) from other sources; and what the percentage change in funding is for 2006-07.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3RS) received £954,402 from its funders during 2005-06 as follows:
	
		
			   £ 
			 Medical Research Council (MRC) 600,000 
			 Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) 66,667 
			 Home Office 125,000 
			 Industry 75,000 
			 Charity 75,000 
			 Other 12,735 
			 Total 954,402 
		
	
	The Centre's budget for 2006-07 funding is projected to increase by 141 per cent.

Copyright Infringement

Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what budget his Department has set for helping businesses combat  (a) copyright infringement and  (b) industrial espionage in each year since 1997.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department, especially through the Patent Office, helps businesses to combat copyright infringement in a number of ways, for example through raising awareness of the intellectual property system and the value of intellectual property, as well as coordinating enforcement action against intellectual property crime. However, as our awareness activities usually cover the whole range of intellectual property and as copyright infringement on a commercial scale is usually associated with other offences, we do not have figures available relating specifically to copyright infringement.

Copyright Infringement

Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent representations he has received on copyright infringement.

Jim Fitzpatrick: I have not received any recent representations specifically relating to copyright infringement, apart from the hon. Member, although I am aware of the concerns of the creative industries in this area.
	In December last year the Chancellor asked Andrew Gowers to lead an independent review of the Intellectual Property Framework. The review is looking at practical issues affecting businesses and consumers and will report to the Government this autumn.

Copyright Infringement

Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many prosecutions for copyright infringements there have been in England and Wales in each year since 1997.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The following figures are the number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts under the various copyright offences in England and Wales.
	
		
			   Number of defendants 
			 1997 169 
			 1998 158 
			 1999 152 
			 2000 151 
			 2001 110 
			 2002 97 
			 2003 111 
			 2004 134 
			  Notes:  Figures for 2005 are not yet available. Figures relating to specifically copyright offences before the crown court are not available. 
		
	
	
		
			  Number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts under various copyright offences, England and Wales, 1997-2004( 1) . 
			  Statute  Offence description  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004 
			 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, Sec. 198 1a, b, d.iii. and Sec. 107 1a, b, d.iv and E. Makes, imports or distributes illicit recordings. Makes for sale or hire, imports possesses or distributes articles which infringes copyright. 78 86 65 72 59 38 47 65 
			 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Triable either way offences except sections included in 84/09. (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) 8 9 
			 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 S.107 2A and 4A as added by Copyright and Related Rights Regulations Reg. 26(1) Person infringes copyright in a work by communicating the work to the public. (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) — 6 
			 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 S.198 2A and 5A as added by Copyright and Related Rights Regulations Reg. 26 (3) Person who infringes a performer's making available right in the course of business/otherwise (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) — 3 
			 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Summary offences. 91 72 87 79 51 59 56 51 
			 (1 )These data are on the principal offence basis. (2 )Not applicable as these offences were part of the 2003 Copyright and Related Rights Regulations.   Source:  RDS—Office for Criminal Justice Reform

Copyright Infringement

Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent estimate he has made of the cost of copyright infringement is to  (a) the UK economy and  (b) the EU economy.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Currently there are no reliable estimates of the value of counterfeit goods being sold in the UK. This lack of evidence makes it impossible to estimate the cost of copyright infringement to both the UK and the EU economies. But our recently published National Intellectual Property Enforcement Report provides a general assessment of the threats and challenges faced by IP rights' owners and how our IP crime strategy is dealing with these issues.
	The Patent Office and the DTI are helping to sponsor the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in an international study to develop methodologies and a clearer assessment of the scope and scale of counterfeiting and piracy throughout the world. The Study is scheduled to produce its first results towards the end of 2006.
	The EU-US action strategy for the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights statement issued last week recognised the need for the OECD study to provide reliable data.

Counterfeit Goods

Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent estimate he has made of the value of counterfeit goods sold in the UK.

Jim Fitzpatrick: There are currently no reliable estimates of the value of counterfeit goods being sold in the UK. But our recently published National Intellectual Property Enforcement Report provides a general assessment of the threats and challenges faced by IP rights' owners and how our IP crime strategy is dealing with these issues.
	The Patent Office and the DTI are helping to sponsor the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in an international study to develop methodologies and a clearer assessment of the scope and scale of counterfeiting and piracy throughout the world. The Study is scheduled to produce its first results towards the end of 2006.

Defence Industry

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what his Department's areas of responsibility are with regards to  (a) the defence industry and  (b) the export of weapons.

Malcolm Wicks: The information is as follows:
	 (a) The Enterprise and Business Group of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is responsible for the Government's manufacturing strategy. In this role, it promotes the legitimate interests of a wide range of UK businesses including the UK defence industry and its supply chain and also works to secure investment and research and development that bring benefits to the UK economy. It is Government policy, as set out in the Defence Industrial Strategy, for wider industrial factors to be taken into account on major defence equipment procurements and DTI contributes to this industrial analysis.
	 (b) Separately, the Department discharges the statutory functions vested in the Secretary of State by the 'Export Control Act 2002'. Principally, this is to process applications for licences to export items whose export is controlled by that Act. This function is carried out by the Export Control and Non-Proliferation directorate, a part of Energy Group.

Departmental Websites

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many websites there are within his responsibilities; and what the total cost of maintaining such websites was in the last year for which figures are available.

Jim Fitzpatrick: We operate one core DTI website, www.dti.gov.uk, within which there are links to a wider community of websites managed by partner agencies and other arm's length bodies. We are aware of 48 DTI websites hosted by other domains.
	The support for the Department's core website is included in the overall service charge paid monthly under the IT service contract in place since 1 April 1999. There is no separation of website costs in this charge.
	Information about the Department's other websites is not held centrally and to gather it would involve disproportionate cost.

Energy Review

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Wellingborough (Mr. Bone) of 12 June 2006,  Official Report, column 874W, on the Energy Review, how many of the responses to the Energy Review were from  (a) individuals,  (b) businesses,  (c) schools,  (d) academia,  (e) non-government organisations and  (f) other organisations; and what proportions of each were (i) in favour of and (ii) opposed to the extension of nuclear energy generation.

Malcolm Wicks: We received over 5,300 responses to the Energy Review consultation, expressing a range of views on many aspects of the energy industry. Releasing figures for only some of the responses to the consultation, out of context and without accompanying analysis, has the potential to mislead the public by focusing on the views and comments of only one section of the respondents.
	We will publish a summary of the responses to the Energy Review consultation in the coming weeks. The responses are currently being posted in full on the DTI website: www.dti.gov.uk/energy/review.

Nuclear Power Industry

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much the Government spent on nuclear power in each of the last five years.

Malcolm Wicks: The Government's expenditure on civil nuclear energy from 2001 to 2006 is set out as follows.
	Figures for direct Government expenditure (but not including spending by the Research Councils) on nuclear fission are given in the following table:
	
		
			  Financial year  Nuclear fission (£ million) 
			 2001-02 2.0 
			 2002-03 2.1 
			 2003-04 2.1 
			 2004-05 2.2 
			 2005-06 2.3 
			  Note:  Expenditure is in support of emergency support arrangements provided by the Met Office in the event of a nuclear release into the atmosphere, and includes a contribution towards the cost of the underpinning meteorological modelling capability 
		
	
	In addition, expenditure by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council on research in aspects of nuclear fission is as follows:
	
		
			  Financial year  Nuclear fission (£ million) 
			 2001-02 0.33 
			 2002-03 0.31 
			 2003-04 0.21 
			 2004-05 0.11 
			 2005-06 0.95 
		
	
	Figures for nuclear fusion R and D are given in the following table:
	
		
			  Financial year  Nuclear fission (£ million) 
			 2001-02 14.4 
			 2002-03 14.6 
			 2003-04 15.6 
			 2004-05 19.5 
			 2005-06 17.0 
		
	
	In terms of British Energy, a loan facility was provided to the company in 2002 to support it through its restructuring. This loan was re-paid in full with interest in December 2003 and no further drawings can be made. As a result of the restructuring which completed in January 2005, the Government have taken direct financial responsibility for BE's historic spent fuel liabilities. The following payments have been made since restructuring to meet those historic spent fuel liabilities: 2004-05— £185 million; 2005-06—£189 million. The Government are also underwriting British Energy's decommissioning fund to the extent that its liabilities outweigh its assets. In return the company is making enhanced payments into the fund. On current valuations, the assets of the fund exceed the liabilities.
	The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) assumed responsibility for the UK's historic nuclear legacy on 1 April 2005. The legacy is made up of experimental facilities created 30 and 40 years ago and which were built without any consideration at the time for future decommissioning and clean up. About 80 per cent. of the total legacy costs relate to Sellafield and Dounreay—neither of which ever produced much electricity. In its approved Strategy the NDA set out its proposals for nuclear clean up which is estimated to be £62.7 billion. This is the life time cost of clean up—likely to take up to 100 years plus to implement.
	Under the 2004 Spending Review the NDA received a budget of £2.2 billion for 2005-06—about half of which was to be raised by the NDA's commercial activities. Following the successful conclusion of the EC State Aid Review on 4 April 2006, financial responsibility for decommissioning BNFL sites has passed to the NDA under the Energy Act 2004. Until this point BNFL held nuclear funding assets of some £17.3 billion on its balance sheet to fund future decommissioning costs. Following the transfer of the nuclear decommissioning liability to the NDA, these assets have been transferred back to the Government.
	Figures relating to spend by the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs are unavailable and could be compiled only at disproportionate cost.

Racial Abuse Complaints

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many complaints of racial abuse in his Department have been  (a) investigated and  (b) upheld in each of the last five years.

Alistair Darling: The number of formal complaints of discrimination on the grounds of race investigated and upheld in the past five years is contained in the following table:
	
		
			   Complaints made  Complaints upheld 
			 2006 (to date) 0 0 
			 2005 3 0 
			 2004 5 2 
			 2003 2 1 
			 2002 3 0

Renewable Energy

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what support is being given by the Government to companies interested in generating energy from tidal lagoons.

Malcolm Wicks: This type of scheme is the application of conventional technology therefore the primary mechanism for Government support is the Renewables Obligation.

Renewable Energy

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent representations he has received on tidal lagoon electricity generation; and what contribution he expects this method of generation to make to the Government's targets for the use of renewables.

Malcolm Wicks: The Department has received a number of representations from two organisations regarding a single tidal lagoon project in the U.K.
	The Government have set a target of 10 per cent. of electricity in the UK to come from renewables by 2010. However, we have not specified what level of contribution should come from individual technologies. That is left to industry, being consistent with the Government's policy of an open and competitive energy market.

Renewable Energy

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much public subsidy was given to the renewable energy industry in each of the last nine years.

Malcolm Wicks: I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Leominster (Bill Wiggin) on 12 September 2005,  Official Report, column 2262W.

Rural Post Offices

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer of 20 June 2006,  Official Report, column 1748W, on the Rural Post Office Network, why he is not working to a specific timetable for the consultation on the future of the Rural Post Office Network.

Jim Fitzpatrick: With a funding support package of £150 million a year for the rural network in place until 2008, we believe it is more important to ensure that we have the fullest possible data and information on which to assess future options than to work to a prematurely predetermined consultation timetable.

Small Arms Trade

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what  (a) standard individual trade control licences and  (b) Open individual trade control licences have been issued to (i) York Guns, (ii) Jago Ltd. and (iii) Procurement Management Services Ltd. since June 2003 for the transfer of small arms from Bosnia to Iraq or any other destination countries.

Malcolm Wicks: Trade control licence applications are made to the Government in confidence and the information they contain is therefore exempt from disclosure. Further, the Government can neither confirm nor deny that an export licence has been applied for in this instance.
	The Government publish details of trade control licences issued, in their annual and quarterly reports on strategic export controls. The Government's annual reports are available from the Libraries of the House and the DTI Export Control Organisation website at http://www.dti.gov.uk/europeandtrade/strategic-export-control/index.html.

Smart Grids

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what research he has commissioned into the evolution of smart grids to enhance the existing national grid.

Malcolm Wicks: The joint DTI/Ofgem/industry 'distributed generation co-ordinating group' (DGCG) commissioned a key study on this topic that was led by the Institution of Electrical Engineers to work with all parties in the sector to form a vision for future networks. This work reported last year—the "Technical Architecture" report is available at:
	http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/temp/ofgem/cache/cmsattach/11732_ TA.pdf
	The group's work continues under the re-formed Electricity Networks Strategy Group (ENSG).
	Separately, Ofgem and British academics, supported by DTI and British companies, have been active participants in the European Union's Technology platform that has developed a vision for Europe's Electricity Networks of the Future. Their 'SmartGrids' report was published recently and is available at:
	http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/energy/pdf/smartgrids_en.pdf

DEFENCE

Aerospace Industry

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer by the Minister of State for Industry and the Regions (Margaret Hodge) of 15 June 2006,  Official Report, column 1410W, on the aerospace industry, what discussions he has had with BAE Systems on securing ongoing export contracts for the Brough site; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: The Government's decision to acquire the Hawk 128 for the Royal Air Force helped to secure in 2004 a major order from India for 66 aircraft. The Government of Bahrain has also ordered the aircraft. The Ministry of Defence, through the Defence Export Services Organisation, is giving BAE Systems strong support to win further export orders.
	My noble Friend, the Minister for Defence Procurement (Lord Drayson) has regular meetings with BAE Systems to discuss a range of topics, including matters affecting the company's plans for work to be undertaken at their Brough site where the Hawk aircraft is manufactured.

Afghanistan

Robert Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many mobilised reservists from each of the three services are deployed in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

Tom Watson: The number of reservists serving in specific areas of an operation's Joint Operational Area (JOA) is not recorded. However, the number of reservists serving in the Operation HERRICK JOA on 31 May 2006 was:
	
		
			   Number 
			 Royal Navy 2 
			 Army 142 
			 Royal Air Force 10

Aldermaston

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the planned expenditure on hydrodynamic testing at the Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Establishment is in each of the next three years.

Des Browne: It is planned to spend in the order of £5 million on hydrodynamic testing at the Atomic Weapons Establishment this year, rising to around £6 million by the end of 2007-08. The precise budget beyond that has not been finalised.

Aldermaston

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the projected capital costs are for the construction of the centralised Explosive Handling Facility at the Atomic Weapons Establishment, Aldermaston.

Des Browne: Mature costings are not available and disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice commercial interests.

Aldermaston

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the projected capital costs are for the construction of new Material Science facilities at the Atomic Weapons Establishment sites at Aldermaston and Burghfield.

Des Browne: Mature costings are not available and disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice commercial interests.

Aldermaston

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans there are to introduce a petaflop computing capability at the UK Atomic Weapons Establishment.

Des Browne: Petaflop technology is not expected to be available before the end of the decade.

Ballistic Missile Interceptors

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions the Government have had with US authorities on siting land based ballistic missile interceptors in  (a) the UK and  (b) UK territorial waters.

Des Browne: Officials work closely with the United States on joint technology programmes and to further our understanding of the US ballistic missile defence system. Their discussions include the modelling of possible missile defence architectures. However, we have had no discussions about the use of specific sites for interceptors in the United Kingdom.

Defence Training Review

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what dates his Department has met  (a) employees and  (b) consultants of Foresight Communications to discuss (i) the Defence Training Review and (ii) other matters, in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Tom Watson: To my knowledge, no members of the Ministry of Defence who are involved with the Defence Training Review have met employees or consultants of Foresight Communications in the last 12 months. I cannot answer for everyone within the Department on this matter as the information is not held centrally and would incur disproportionate costs to retrieve.

Departmental Staff

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 20 June 2006,  Official Report, column 709W, on departmental staff, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the change in the number of staff failing to achieve an acceptable mark in their annual report since 2002-03; and what measures have been put in place to address the issue.

Tom Watson: The increase in numbers year on year was partly due to the introduction of industrial staff to performance appraisal as part of the Ministry of Defence four year pay deal. Also, the figures provided in the answer of 20 June 2006,  Official Report, column 709W, were, as explained, a snapshot at the end of the reporting year. We have, throughout the pay deal, raised line manager awareness of the impact on pay of failing to address poor performance at the end of the reporting year and the increase in numbers show that managers were responding to this. The Department remains keen for line managers to deal with poor performers and to manage them out if they do not respond to encouragement and assistance to improve their performance.

Departmental Televisions

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many television sets are in operation in the Department  (a) in total,  (b) in Minister's private offices and  (c) in each office building in the Department; and how many television licences are held by the Department.

Tom Watson: The information requested on the total number of televisions, their locations and licenses is not held centrally and could not be collected without disproportionate cost and effort. However, in respect of the Department's three central London office buildings, there are 100 televisions in the Main Building—of which there is one in the office of each of the four Ministers; 83 in the Old War Office Building; and 10 in St. George's Court. Two TV licences are held for the Main Building, and one each for the Old War Office Building and St. George's Court.

Future Aircraft Carrier Project

Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what impact he expects negotiations with the US Administration on the transfer of technology and software for the Joint Strike Fighter to have on the Future Aircraft Carrier Project.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 27 June 2006
	We remain optimistic that our negotiations with the US administration on the transfer of technology and software for the Joint Strike Fighter will be successful and as such will have no impact on the Future Aircraft Carrier programme. We remain fully committed to the Future Aircraft Carrier programme which represents a quantum step up in military capability for the UK's armed forces.

Hutton Report

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 16 June 2006,  Official Report, columns 1524-25W, on the Hutton Report, at what time of day, and on what day, the press statement from his predecessor, the right hon. Member for Ashfield (Mr. Hoon), reference 168/03 and dated 19 July 2003, available on the Government News Network website, was  (a) cleared for release and  (b) released under embargo to the media.

Des Browne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 16 June 2006,  Official Report, columns 1524-25W.

Iraq

Robert Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many mobilised reservists are deployed in Iraq, broken down by service.

Tom Watson: On 31 May 2006 each service had the following number of reserve personnel serving in the Operation TELIC Joint Operational Area:
	
		
			   Number 
			 Royal Navy 1 
			 Royal Marines 2 
			 Army 422 
			 Royal Air Force 63

Iraq

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects to publish the findings of the investigation into the fatal attack of 13 May on British troops serving in Basra.

Adam Ingram: The Service Police Report resulting from the Royal Military Police (Special Investigation Branch) investigation into the fatal attack of 13 May on British troops serving in Basra is not yet complete. Service Police Reports are not made public, although they are provided to the relevant Coroner's Office for use at the inquest.
	It has yet to be decided whether a Service Board of Inquiry into this incident will be held. If there is to be a Board of Inquiry, its findings will be made available to the next of kin of the deceased once it is complete.
	The Army is in contact with the families of the deceased soldiers and is keeping them informed of developments.

Joint Personnel Administration

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what changes  (a) have been made and  (b) are planned to (i) concessionary travel, (ii) living allowances, (iii) other allowances and (iv) compensation for each of the armed forces as a consequence of the introduction of Joint Personnel Administration; and if he will make a statement.

Tom Watson: Due to the amount of information requested I have placed a detailed response in the Library of the House.

Joint Striker Fighter

Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent discussions his Department has had with the US Defense Department on sharing of  (a) stealth technology and  (b) flight control software for the Joint Strike Fighter project.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 27 June 2006
	As part of the continuing process of preparing to operate the Joint Strike Fighter as a sovereign capability, Ministers and senior officials have had a wide range of discussions with US counterparts on all aspects of the Joint Strike Fighter programme. As my noble Friend, the Minister for Defence Procurement, has previously explained in another place, those discussions have raised the issue of information access and explained the UK's requirements for operational sovereignty. These detailed discussions continue and we remain optimistic that they will be successful.

Meteor Beyond-visual-range Air-to-air Missile

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the results of MBDA's first test firing of the Meteor beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile on 9 May; and whether the development of the Meteor missile is on schedule.

Adam Ingram: The first firing of a Meteor missile took place on 9 May. The missile maintained full guidance control throughout its planned flight. Data were successfully collected during the flight and the debris was recovered. A second firing was successfully conducted on 20 June, the data from which are now being analysed.
	The Meteor programme remains on schedule to achieve the in-service date declared in the Major Project Report 2005.

Missile Effectiveness

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the  (a) Storm Shadow air-launched cruise and  (b) Brimstone anti-tank guided missile, with particular reference to deployment in (i) Iraq and (ii) Afghanistan; and whether it is meeting military requirements.

Adam Ingram: The Ministry of Defence conducts assessment of its weapons systems on a regular basis. Details of these assessments cannot be released as this could prejudice the safety and security of our armed forces.

Project Hyperion

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the conclusions of Project Hyperion will be announced.

Adam Ingram: I hope to be able to make an announcement before the recess.

Suicide Vulnerability

Joan Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what right of appeal is available to a trainee in the UK armed services discharged as a result of being discovered to be at risk following an assessment made as a part of the suicide vulnerability risk management policy.

Tom Watson: Service personnel are not discharged from the armed forces as a result of being discovered to be at risk following an assessment made as part of suicide risk management policies.
	There are a number of reasons why service personnel could be discharged from the armed forces, such as for medical reasons, on compassionate grounds, or because the individual is thought to be temperamentally unsuitable to service life. If a service person does not agree with the reason for their discharge, they have the right to submit a redress of complaint. If an individual is discharged on medical grounds they may also submit an appeal to a Medical Appeal Board.

Training Exercises

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of training exercises have been suspended in the last 12 months.

Adam Ingram: Of the 548 training events recorded in the Defence Exercise Programme for the period 1 July 2005-30 June 2006, 63 (11 per cent.) were suspended.

Trident

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether evidence from experiments conducted in  (a) existing and (b) proposed hydrodynamic testing facilities will be used to support the decision on whether to reuse or replace the Trident warhead pit.

Des Browne: Evidence from hydrodynamics experimentation, both current and future, represents an essential supporting element in all decisions in connection with UK warhead assurance and in-service life.

Trident

Frank Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the  (a) Trident missile,  (b) nuclear warheads,  (c) guidance systems and  (d) submarine launch platforms are each expected to be (i) no longer available and (ii) beyond refurbishment.

Des Browne: The expected life of each element of the UK's nuclear deterrent was set out in a memorandum provided by the Ministry of Defence to the House of Commons Defence Select Committee, which was published on the Committee's website on 20 January 2006 (http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm20 0506/cmselect/cmdfence/835/835m04.htm).

WORK AND PENSIONS

Child Poverty

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the likely effect on child poverty of proposals in A New Deal for Welfare: Empowering People to Work to introduce the Employment and Support Allowance.

Jim Murphy: We believe that work is the best route out of poverty. It builds family aspirations, fosters greater social inclusion and can improve an individual's health and well-being. Our Green Paper sets out proposals aimed at achieving an employment rate equivalent to 80 per cent. of the working age population. We will do this by reducing the number of people on incapacity benefits, by helping lone parents into work and by increasing the number of older workers.
	We propose to significantly reduce the number of people claiming incapacity benefits through a three pronged approach: reducing the number of people who leave the workplace due to illness; increasing the number leaving benefits and better addressing the needs of all those on benefit with additional payments to the most severely disabled people.
	Work is still under way in relation to the proposals, and an assessment of the potential impact on child poverty will form part of this. We are currently reviewing the DWP contribution to reducing child poverty across all current and planned policies and, in the autumn, we will be setting out our new strategy for how we can make faster progress towards reaching our goal of halving child poverty by 2010.

Child Support Agency

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of cases recorded on the Child Support Agency old rules scheme would pay  (a) increased and  (b) decreased payments if migrated to the new rules scheme.

James Plaskitt: For those cases with a full maintenance assessment on the child support computer system (CSCS) in February 2006, we estimate that around  (a) 60 per cent. would have an increased liability and  (b) 40 per cent. would have a decreased liability if the new scheme rules were applied to their current reported circumstances.
	We estimate that the majority of changes in maintenance liabilities will be for less than £10 per week. To give non-resident parents and parents with care time to adjust to their new amount, most changes are phased in by fixed annual steps.
	 Source: Child support computer system five per cent. extract, February 2006.

Child Support Agency

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the average number of Child Support Agency staff who are involved in each case from first application to the establishment of regular payments.

James Plaskitt: The information requested is not available.

Child Support Agency

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many unprocessed cases were held by the Child Support Agency during each month of the last year for which figures are available;
	(2)  what his latest estimate is of the backlog of new claims held by the Child Support Agency.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Hilary Reynolds:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive. As he is currently out of the country, I am responding on his behalf.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his latest estimate is of the backlog of new claims held by the Child Support Agency.
	You also asked how many unprocessed cases were held by the Child Support Agency during each month of the last year for which figures are available.
	As at March 2006, the Agency had a total 333,000 uncleared potential applications. This consisted of 66,000 old scheme applications and 267,000 new scheme applications. These figures can be found in table 1 and table 2.1 of the latest issue Agency's 'Quarterly Summary Statistics' (QSS), a copy of which is available in the House library.
	The following table shows the number of uncleared potential applications across both schemes for each month of the last year.
	Although the total volume of uncleared potential applications fell by 8% between January 2005 and March 2006, the Agency recognises that this remains unacceptably high. The Agency therefore has a 2006/07 target to ensure that, by March 2007, the volume of new scheme uncleared applications outstanding at March 2006 is reduced by 25 %.
	
		
			  Number of uncleared potential applications across both schemes, March 2006 
			   Total agency uncleared applications  New scheme uncleared applications  Old scheme uncleared applications 
			 April 2005 352,000 266,000 86,000 
			 May 2005 346,000 265,000 82,000 
			 June 2005 341,000 263,000 78,000 
			 July 2005 340,000 263,000 76,000 
			 August 2005 339,000 264,000 75,000 
			 September 2005 333,000 261,000 73,000 
			 October 2005 331,000 262,000 70,000 
			 November 2005 328,000 259,000 69,000 
			 December 2005 327,000 259,000 68,000 
			 January 2006 327,000 260,000 67,000 
			 February 2006 332,000 265,000 67,000 
			 March 2006 333,000 267,000 66,000 
			  Notes: 1. The definition of an uncleared potential application differs between new and old schemes. Old scheme cases are considered cleared when they have been processed through to an assessment. New scheme cases are only considered cleared when they have received a calculation and have a payment schedule in place. 2. These figures include all uncleared potential applications from those received in the latest month to those received more than a year ago. 3. Numbers are rounded to the nearest thousand.

Child Support Agency

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what his latest estimate is of the average time it takes the Child Support Agency to bring cases from first application to assessment;
	(2)  how many and what proportion of eligible parents received their first payment from the Child Support Agency within the target time of six weeks in each month of the last year for which figures are available.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive. He will write to the hon. Member.
	 Letter from Hilary Reynolds:
	In reply to your Parliamentary Questions about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive. As he is currently out of the country, I am responding on his behalf.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his latest estimate is of the average time it takes the Child Support Agency to bring cases from first application to assessment.
	You also asked how many and what proportion of eligible parents received their first payment from the Child Support Agency within the time limit of six weeks in each month of the last year for which figures are available.
	As at the end of March 2006, of those cases that progressed to calculation since the introduction of the new scheme, the average time from first contact to calculation was 181 days (26 weeks). Of such cases, 24 per cent received a calculation in less than 6 weeks; 48 per cent between 6 weeks and 6 months; 16 per cent between 6 months and a year; and 12 per cent took more than a year.
	It should be noted, however, that the Agency does not regard an application as being cleared once a calculation alone has been carried out, but only once collection arrangements have been agreed with the non resident parent. Additionally, since not all Child Support Agency applications result in a calculation, an application is also defined as cleared if the case is closed; the parent with care is identified as claiming Good Cause or is subject to a Reduced Benefit Decision; or the application is identified as being a change of circumstances on an existing case as opposed to a new application.
	As of the end of March 2006, for all cases cleared since the introduction of the new scheme, the mean average time taken to process a new-scheme application from the date of first contact to clearance, as defined above, was 204 days (29 weeks). Of those cases cleared, 25 per cent did so in less that 6 weeks; 41 per cent between 6 weeks and 6 months; 17 per cent between 6 months and a year; and 17 per cent took more than a year. These figures exclude 126,000 applications that came through the Jobcentre Plus interface and which have been cleared, but for which insufficient management information exists to enable age at clearance to be determined.
	The Agency does not have a time limit for the time taken for a parent with care to receive their first payment. Information regarding the number and percentage of cases receiving a first payment within six weeks or longer is attached.
	Once a case has received a calculation, a method of collection must be agreed with the non-resident parent and set up by the Agency which, in the cases of a Direct Debit or a Standing Order, may take a few weeks. The day on which payment is due from the non- resident parent is then specified by the Agency having taken in to account the date of any other income payable to the non-resident parent, which may result in a delay of up to 4 weeks to make payment to the Agency. The Agency then has to process the payment from the non-resident parent and make payment to the parent with care.
	Delays may occur if a non resident parent does not comply. For an employed non-resident parent the Agency can then impose a Deductions from Earnings Order (DEO). Where this occurs, the Agency must contact and liaise with the employer to set up the DEO, wait for the subsequent payment from the employer, which in itself can take over 20 days, before money is available to be paid to the parent with care.
	The elapsed times between a payment request by the Agency and actual payment by the non resident parent mean that, it is unlikely that it would be possible for many parents with care to receive maintenance payments within 6 weeks of their first contact with the Agency.
	The Agency published its 2006 Client Charter on 28th April 2006. This sets out the minimum standards of service which we aim to meet in future for each of our main business areas. The first three service standards which relate to first contact and payments are attached.
	I hope you find this helpful.
	
		
			  Number of cases where payment has been made from the Agency to the parent with care by time elapsed since first contact with the CSA 
			   Number of cases receiving payment in   
			  Date of intake  Less than 6 weeks  6 weeks or longer  Number of cases where payment not yet received  Total 
			 January 2005 500 5,000 1,000 6,500 
			 February 2005 500 5,000 1,500 7,000 
			 March 2005 500 5,000 1,500 7,000 
			 April 2005 500 5,000 1,500 7,000 
			 May 2005 500 4,500 1,500 6,500 
			 June 2005 500 5,000 1,500 7,000 
			 July 2005 500 4,500 1,500 6,500 
			 August 2005 500 4,000 1,500 6,000 
			 September 2005 500 4,000 2,000 6,500 
			 October 2005 500 3,500 2,000 6,500 
			 November 2005 500 3,500 2,500 6,500 
			 December 2005 500 2,000 2,000 4,500 
		
	
	
		
			  Percentage of cases where payment has been made from the Agency to the parent with care by time elapsed since first contact with the CSA 
			   Percentage of cases receiving payment in   
			  Date of intake  Less than 6 weeks  6 weeks or longer  Percentage of cases where payment not yet received  Total 
			 January 2005 5 76 19 6,500 
			 February 2005 6 76 19 7,000 
			 March 2005 5 74 21 7,000 
			 April 2005 6 73 21 7,000 
			 May 2005 6 73 21 6,500 
			 June 2005 7 70 23 7,000 
			 July 2005 7 69 23 6,500 
			 August 2005 8 66 26 6,000 
			 September 2005 9 64 28 6,500 
			 October 2005 10 57 33 6,500 
			 November 2005 10 54 36 6,500 
			 December 2005 7 47 46 4,500 
			  Note:  Numbers are rounded to the nearest 500, and percentages to the nearest whole percent. As such, components may not sum to totals. 
		
	
	 Child Support Agency Client Charter—Service standards relating to first contact and payment
	 Standard 1
	If the parent with care can give us contact details for the non-resident parent, we will start gathering information from the non- resident parent within four weeks of the application being received. We will aim to make an accurate decision on the application within 12 weeks, but in some cases this may take as long as 26 weeks.
	If we do not have current contact details for the non-resident parent, we will trace them as quickly as we can. These applications may take longer to progress. In the small number of cases where we cannot trace the non-resident parent, we will not be able to progress the application.
	 Standard 2
	Where we are collecting child maintenance, we aim to make a first payment to the parent with care within six weeks of making the initial payment arrangements with the non-resident parent.
	If the non-resident parent has a job but either fails or refuses to pay, we will aim to obtain payment via a Deduction from Earnings Order (DEO) within four months of making initial payment arrangements.
	Where the non-resident parent has still not paid four months after initial payment arrangements were made, we will refer the case to our specialist enforcement unit.
	 Standard 3
	We will make maintenance payments to parents with care within a week of receiving the money from the non-resident parent.

Child Support Agency

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average administration cost per case on  (a) the new and  (b) the old Child Support Agency scheme was in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Hilary Reynolds:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive. As he is currently out of the country, I am responding on his behalf.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average administration cost per case on (a) the new scheme and (b) the old scheme was in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
	The Child Support Agency is funded to administer child support applications and payments regardless of whether the case is administered on the new scheme or the old scheme. The actual costs of administering child support cases under each scheme are not separately identified and as such we cannot supply information to the level of detail required.
	The cost of administering the Child Support Agency in 2004/05 was £325.6 million. Figures for 2005/06 will be available when the Agency's Annual Report and Accounts are published. A change in accounting policy proposed by the Department for Work and Pensions, will lead to a restatement of 2004/05 expenditure reported in the Agency's annual accounts. This reflects the incorporation of costs associated with the Modernisation Programme in the accounts of individual Agencies rather than charging such costs directly to the central Departmental Resource Account. It is expected that the restated 2004-05 figure will increase expenditure to around £425 million. Costs for 2005/06 will be prepared on the same basis.
	I hope you find this response helpful.

Child Support Agency

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many complaints have been made to the Child Support Agency in each year for which figures are available.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Stephen Geraghty. He will write to the hon. Member with the requested information.
	 Letter from Hilary Reynolds:
	In reply to your Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive. As he is currently out of the country, I am responding on his behalf.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints were made to the Child Support Agency in each year for which figures are available.
	The volumes of complaints received direct from clients, their representatives and MPs to the Child Support Agency or to our Ministers, for which information is available, are in the attached table.
	It should be noted that it is difficult to use this information to make meaningful comparisons over time due to changes in the way that information has been recorded. In particular whilst the volume of stage 1 written complaints undoubtedly rose between 2002-03 and 2003-04, this is likely to have been due in part to more rigorous recording of complaints received at the time, and the introduction by the Agency of a three tier complaints process during 2003-04.
	It should also be noted that the volume of complaints has stabilised. In the twelve months up to March 2006, the Agency received a total of 55,000 complaints. This compares to 55,000 for the 12 months up to May 2005 (the earliest period for which comparable data for total numbers of complaints received is available).
	Further, to put the attached figures into context, the 55,000 complaints received in the 12 months to March 2006 represent less than 4% of the 1.5 million cases dealt with by the CSA.
	I hope you find this answer useful.
	
		
			  Agency complaints—number of cases received in the Agency 1997 to 2006 
			   1997-98  1998-99  1999-2000  2000-01  2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			 Stage 1 complaints received (Written) 27,875 28,073 21,015 19,634 15,493 15,182 24,809 29,213 27,344 
			 Stage 1 Complaints received (telephone) (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (2)— 7,458 10,570 10,660 
			 Chief Executive Complaints (3)— (3)— (3)— 4,096 4,555 7,804 (4)— (5)— 5,887 
			 Treat Official Complaints(6) (3)— (3)— (3)— 2,609 2,869 1,344 1,521 1,108 1,278 
			 MP Complaints to Business Units (3)— (3)— (3)— 4,175 4,818 4,537 5,317 8,871 9,729 
			 (1) Whilst the Agency did receive stage 1 telephone complaints prior to 2002-03, their volumes were not recorded.  (2) Although 671 stage 1 telephone complaints were recorded between December 2002 and March 2003, their volumes were not recorded throughout the whole year, thus preventing meaningful comparison with later years.  (3) Whilst the Agency did receive complaints directly to the Chief Executive, treat official complaints, and MP complaints to Business Units prior to 2000/01, their volumes were not recorded.  (4) During 2003-04 complaints sent directly to the Chief Executive were not recorded separately from those complaints that were escalated to him as part of the 3-stage process. Therefore, although 7,183 complaints in total were received during 2003-04, it is not possible to separate out those complaints received by the Chief Executive directly (as opposed to those escalated via the complaints process), thus preventing meaningful comparison with data for earlier years.  (5) In April and May of 2004, the Chief Executive received a total of 1,435 complaints however, is not possible to separate out those complaints received by the Chief Executive directly, as opposed to those escalated to stage 3 of the complaints process). From June 2004-March 2005, after which time such complaints were recorded separately, the Chief Executive received 4,393 direct complaints and 2,549 complaints escalated upwards from stage 2. Again, these recording issues prevent meaningful comparison of this category with earlier years.  (6) Treat official letters are those received by a Minister from a member of the public, and referred for initial consideration to an official of the agency.

Child Support Agency

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his latest estimate is of the average time taken to resolve complaints to the Child Support Agency about  (a) old scheme cases and  (b) new scheme cases.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member.
	 Letter from Hilary Reynolds:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive. As he is currently out of the country, I am responding on his behalf.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his latest estimate is of the average time taken to resolve complaints to the Child Support Agency about (a) old scheme cases and (b) new scheme cases.
	The Agency had a 2005/06 internal target to ensure that 68% of stage one client complaints were resolved or had a resolution plan in place within 15 working days of receipt of the complaint from the client.
	I cannot provide the average time taken to resolve complaints but information on the Agency's 2005/06 performance against this standard is set out in the table below.
	
		
			   Percentage of complaints which have been resolved, or have a resolution plan within 15 working days of receipt of the complaint for 2005/06 
			 Old child support scheme 90 
			 New child support scheme 88 
			 Overall 89 
		
	
	 Note: This target is measured by checking a 10% sample of cases which have been resolved or have a resolution plan in place.
	I hope you find this response helpful.

Child Support Agency

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average time taken to process compensation payments made to Child Support Agency clients for administrative errors was in 2005-06.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Hilary Reynolds:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive. As he is currently out of the country, I am responding on his behalf.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average time taken to process compensation payments made by Child Support Agency clients for administrative errors was in 2005-6.
	Financial redress is made to clients in cases where maladministration has occurred. The Agency does not hold robust information to distinguish administrative errors from other acts of maladministration.
	However, in the 2005/06 financial year 80% of financial redress payments for maladministered cases were processed within 30 days

Child Support Agency

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the 10 largest total  (a) compensation and  (b) maladministration payments made by the Child Support Agency to a single individual have been since May 1997, including separate payments made in relation to a single case requiring compensation; and if he will make a statement.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Hilary Reynolds, dated 29 June 2006:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive. As he is currently out of the country, I am responding on his behalf.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the 10 largest total (a) compensation and (b) maladministration payments made by the Child Support Agency to a single individual including separate payments made in relation to a single case requiring compensation have been since May 1997; and if he will make a statement.
	The Agency does not have sufficient robust information to give you precisely the information you requested. I apologise for this but can give you information on the ten highest financial redress payments awarded due to maladministration between the period 1 December 2001 to 31 May 2006.
	The table below contains the available information.
	
		
			   £ 
			 1 41,000.00 
			 2 27,961.66 
			 3 22,160.08 
			 4 19,965.36 
			 5 19,056.49 
			 6 18,980.90 
			 7 16,000.00 
			 8 14,905.97 
			 9 14,732.40 
			 10 14,648.55 
		
	
	Maladministration and compensatory payments in excess of £10,000 represent a small fraction (just over 0.01%) of the total number of such payments made by the Agency.
	I hope you find this response helpful.

Child Support Agency

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the total cost was of compensation payments made to clients of the Child Support Agency for administrative errors in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Hilary Reynolds, dated 29 June 2006:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive. As he is currently out of the country, I am responding on his behalf.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the total cost of compensation payments made to clients of the Child Support Agency for administrative errors was in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
	Financial redress is made to clients in cases where maladministration has occurred. The Agency does not hold robust information to distinguish administrative errors from other acts of maladministration.
	The following table summarises the financial redress payments made to clients in each of the last five years, as outlined in the Agency's Annual Report and Accounts. Figures for 2005-06 will be available in the Agency's 2005-06 Annual Report and Accounts.
	
		
			   Financial redress paid to clients (£) 
			 2000-01 3,053,000 
			 2001-02 2,590,000 
			 2002-03 2,478,000 
			 2003-04 2,331,000 
			 2004-05 3,043,000 
		
	
	I hope you find this response helpful.

Child Support Agency

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many complaints of  (a) harassment,  (b) bullying and  (c) discrimination in the workplace there were against Child Support Agency staff in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Hilary Reynolds:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive. As he is currently out of the country, I am responding on his behalf.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many cases of (a) harassment (b) bullying and (c) discrimination have been reported to the Child Support Agency in each of the last five years.
	The numbers of harassment, bullying and discrimination cases formally reported to the Agency in the last five years are as follows:
	
		
			   Number of cases reported 
			 2001/02 49 
			 2002/03 32 
			 2003/04 44 
			 2004/05 22 
			 2005/06 18 
		
	
	The nature of the complaints does not allow separation of the data into the constituent elements of harassment, bullying and discrimination.

Child Support Agency

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his latest estimate is of the proportion of sickness absence days taken in a year at the Child Support Agency which were due to stress and other mental health problems.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive.
	He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Hilary Reynolds, dated 29 June 2006:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive. As the Chief Executive is out of the country, I am responding on his behalf.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his latest estimate is of the proportion of sickness absence days taken at the Child Support Agency in the last five years that were due to stress and other mental health problems.
	The table below shows the absences broadly due to stress and other mental health problems as a percentage of total sickness absences.
	
		
			   Percentage 
			 January 2001-December 2001 28.8 
			 January 2002-December 2002 28.3 
			 April 2003-March 2004 31.8 
			 April 2004-March 2005 32 
			 April 2005-March 2006 26.7 
		
	
	Figures for January 2003 to March 2003 are unavailable as a change in methodology for collection of sickness data was introduced in April 2003.
	I hope you find this response helpful.

Child Support Agency

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the  (a) absence rates due to sickness and  (b) turnover rates for Child Support Agency staff were for each year since 1995-96.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Hilary Reynolds:
	In reply to your Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive. As the Chief Executive is out of the country, I am responding on his behalf.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the (a) absence rates due to sickness and (b) turnover rates for Child Support Agency staff were for each year since 1995-96.
	The tables below provide the information requested.
	
		
			  Year ending  Annual sickness rate (average working days lost per member of staff, expressed in full-time equivalent terms) 
			 December 1999 12.5 
			 December 2000 11.9 
			 December 2001 12.3 
			 December 2002 12.9 
			 March 2003 13.7 
			 March 2004 15.6 
			 March 2005 15.9 
			 March 2006 12.0 
		
	
	
		
			  Year ending March:  Turnover rates (Percentage) 
			 1999 27.6 
			 2000 17.1 
			 2001 14.6 
			 2002 14.6 
			 2003 13.0 
			 2004 14.9 
			 2005 16.6 
			 2006 13.6 
			  Notes:  1. Data prior to 1999 are not available.  2. Due to a change in methodology for collection of sickness data introduced in April 2003, the year end dates have changed from December to March. 
		
	
	I hope you find this response helpful.

Child Support Agency

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the key performance metrics are for measuring the performance of the EDS contract with the Child Support Agency.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Hilary Reynolds:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply for the Chief Executive. As he is out of the country, I am responding on his behalf.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the key performance metrics are for measuring the success of the EDS contract with the Child Support Agency.
	In August 2005, the Department realigned its IT contracts with Electronic Data Systems (EDS), including that covering the Child Support Reforms (CSR), into the Standard Services Business Allocation (SSBA). The realigned contract is intended to deliver industry standard services at market competitive prices to the Department as a whole including Child Support Agency.
	Under the SSBA, EDS is required to meet contractual levels for live operational services across a full range of industry standard measures. The key criteria on which EDS' performance is measured in respect of CS2 (the principal IT system used by the CSA) are:
	The level of system availability (where the current target is 99.2%, rising to 99.6% over time);
	The level of desktop infrastructure availability (where the current target is 99.2%, rising to 99.4% over time);
	Accuracy and timeliness of payments to parents with care (where the target is 100%).
	The Department is entitled to financial remedies if these targets are not met. In addition, the Department can benchmark EDS services against external industry comparators to help achieve ongoing performance and value for money.
	The general contract realignment included resolution of outstanding CSR contractual issues with EDS. As part of this agreement, EDS is required to deliver a staged programme of work to fix agreed defects on CS2. The Department is monitoring delivery of this programme to planned milestone dates and to agreed testing acceptance and implementation quality criteria. Once all the relevant services have been transformed, application reliability, which affects processing times, will also become a contractual service level.

Child Support Agency

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will place in the Library the latest list of change requests made to EDS by the Child Support Agency.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Hilary Reynolds:
	In reply to your recent parliamentary question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive. As he is currently out of the country, I am responding on his behalf.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will place in the Library the latest list of change requests made to EDS by the Child Support Agency.
	The following table shows the latest list of change requests made by the Child Support Agency.
	
		
			  Change requests  Benefits 
			 CR1 (chargeable defects) This allows the business to prioritise and approve small IT fixes during the testing phase which are identified as chargeable, without delaying the current testing and delivery timescales. 
			 Change Release 1.1 (Integration Test Project) To ensure continuity of the development activity for Change Release 1.1 whilst business requirements are re-affirmed. 
			 Management Information Improvement Project This will supply management information for the key core process areas of the business to assist performance management. 
			 Call Off Scans This will allow the Agency to meet its legal requirement to maintain the accuracy of data on the CS2 system and also allow the business to obtain detailed case information. 
			 HSBC Bank Files This updates and changes the way bank files are handled between the Agency/Department and HSBC and creates an automatic link between the banking system and Agency systems. 
			 Programme Launch This will ensure that a defined and contracted programme of work is accepted, is jointly regarded as representing the best IT solution to support of the Agency's change programme. In turn this will mean that relevant EDS resource can be effectively and efficiently managed and projects implemented. 
			 Year- end scans on FMS This will allow the analysis of Agency debt to support year- end accounting activities, the development of policy proposals and emerging plans. 
			 Weeding and Archiving This allows the Agency to maintain efficient weeding and archiving of data. 
			 Data Management System Performance Changes This will reduce the overall time of the Data Management System batch run, and thereby minimise impact on the online working day start time. 
			 Notifications Survey - DWP (CSA) This will improve clarity of client notifications. 
		
	
	I hope you find this response helpful.

Child Support Agency

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many telephone calls to the Child Support Agency  (a) were received,  (b) received an engaged tone and  (c) were disconnected during the interactive voice response process in the period April 2002 to May 2006.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Hilary Reynolds:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive. As he is currently out of the country, I am responding on his behalf.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many telephone calls to the Child Support Agency (a) were received, (b) received an engaged tone, (c) were disconnected during the interactive voice response process in the period April 2002 to May 2006.
	The latest information is contained in the table. Please note that point (c) has been interpreted as referring to the total number of calls abandoned (for example, by clients who do not have a National Insurance number to hand and hang up to go and find it before calling back) or lost during the automated part of the process.
	Further information on the Agency's telephony performance is available in Table 16 of the latest edition of the Agency's Quarterly Summary of Statistics. A copy of this document is available in the House library, as well as on the internet, at http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/csa.asp.
	The Agency has shown significant and sustained improvement in telephony performance. Specifically:
	Average waiting times to answer calls from the queue improved in 2005/06 compared to 2004/05, from 2:29 minutes to 1:21 minutes for new system calls; and 0:56 seconds to 0:28 seconds for old system calls.
	In 2005/06, 91% of the calls available in queues for Agency employees were answered. This is up from 84% in 2004/05.
	I hope you find this helpful.
	
		
			  Telephony outcomes, 2002-03 to 2005-06 
			   April 2002- March 2003  April 2003- March 2004  April 2004- March 2005  April 2005- March 2006 
			 Attempted client calls to both CS2 and CSCS numbers 4,145,000 6,051,000 5,738,000 5,352,000 
			 Calls for which outcome not recorded 45,000 145,000 48,000 42,000 
			 Calls for which outcome recorded 4,100,000 5,906,000 5,689,000 5,310,000 
			 Of which: 
			 Calls that received an engaged/busy tone See note 498,000 126,000 50,000 
			 Calls abandoned/lost during the IVR process. 528,000 362,000 320,000 317,000 
			  Notes:  1. Data is presented for calls made regarding cases on the new system (CS2) and the old system (CSCS) combined.  2. "Attempted client calls" excludes calls attempted outside working hours.  3. "Calls for which outcome not recorded" are those that were received but for which, due to data problems, the eventual outcome was not recorded. The volume of such calls has decreased significantly in the last 3 years as management information systems have improved.  4. "Calls for which outcome recorded" are those which were received and for which there is management information to track the eventual outcome.  5. IVR denotes the automated touch tone part of the process where clients enter their details via the telephone key pad. Once callers have cleared this part of the process, they enter a queue to be answered by a CSA employee. Note that there is no IVR process on the old system.  6. Numbers are rounded to the nearest thousand. Components may not sum to totals due to rounding.

Child Support Agency

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what policies are in place with regard to  (a) migrating Child Support Agency cases on the old rules system to the new rules system and  (b) migrating them back onto the old rules system.

James Plaskitt: We have always said that we would not consider transferring the bulk of the old scheme cases onto the new scheme until the new scheme was working well.
	Child support legislation allows an old scheme case to transfer to the new scheme where an old scheme case has prescribed links to a new scheme application.
	There is no policy for converting cases back to the old scheme. But where a re-application for child support maintenance is made within 13 weeks of an old scheme application ceasing, "linking rules" will provide for the new application to be assessed under old scheme rules.

Child Support Agency

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what total amount of outstanding debt is owed to parents with care via the Child Support Agency; and what proportion of this is deemed uncollectable.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Hilary Reynolds:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply form the Chief Executive. As he is currently out of the country, I am responding on his behalf.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what total amount of outstanding debt is owed to parents with care via the Child Support Agency; and what proportion of this is deemed uncollectable.
	The outstanding debt balance for 2004/05 is £3,252.75 million for both new scheme and old scheme cases, of which £1,984.42 million has been classified as probably uncollectable. This information is shown the table below.
	
		
			  2004-05  Debt Position (£ million) 
			 Collectable 637.79 
			 Possibly uncollectable 599.54 
			 Deferred 31.00 
			 Probably uncollectable 1984.42 
			 Total 3252.75 
		
	
	I am unable to provide the outstanding debt amount owed to the parent with care as there is no differential applied to the outstanding debt balance between the Secretary of State and the parent with care.
	This response is based on the position at the end of the financial year 2004/05. The 2005/06 figures are currently being audited by National Audit Office and will be published in the Agency's Annual Report and Accounts.
	 Definitions of Collectability of Debt
	 Collectable
	Amount outstanding which the debt analysis exercise revealed is likely to be collected. This takes into account factors such as regular contact with the non-resident parent, where regular payments are being made or an arrears agreement has been set up.
	 Possibly Uncollectable
	Amounts outstanding which the debt analysis exercise revealed some uncertainty over whether it will be collected. The amounts are considered doubtful where, for example, payments have been infrequent or it has not been possible to establish an arrears agreement or impose a deduction of earning order.
	 Deferred Debt
	Debt deferred by the Agency, provided non-resident parents meet certain conditions on payment of regular maintenance and the remaining debt outstanding.
	 Probably Uncollectable
	Amount outstanding which the debt analysis exercise revealed is likely to be very difficult to collect due, for example, to the lack of contact with, or the personal circumstance of, the non-resident parent. In many of these cases the Agency has suspended recovery action until such time as the individual's circumstances change.
	I hope you find this response helpful.

Child Support Agency

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in prison have Child Support Agency maintenance liabilities.

James Plaskitt: holding answer 22 June 2006
	The information requested is not available.

Child Support Agency

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average time was which the Child Support Agency took for processing a change in circumstances applications in  (a) 2001-02,  (b) 2002-03,  (c) 2003-04,  (d) 2004-05 and  (e) 2005-06.

James Plaskitt: The information requested is not available.

Child Support Agency

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many variations to Child Support Agency payment schedules were granted on the grounds of  (a) assets,  (b) lifestyle inconsistent with income,  (c) diversion of income and  (d) income not taken into account purposes in (i) 2004-05 and (ii) 2005-06.

James Plaskitt: The information requested is not available.

Child Support Agency (Scotland)

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Scotland have been transferred over to the new Child Support Agency system.

James Plaskitt: The information requested is not available at the geographical level specified.

Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much industrial injuries disablement benefit was underpaid in each year since 1997; and how much was underpaid due to  (a) fraud,  (b) customer error and  (c) official error in each year.

Jim Murphy: No estimates of fraud and error are available for industrial injuries disablement benefit.

Mesothelioma

Michael Clapham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many mesothelioma diagnoses have been made by his Department in connection with a claim for industrial injuries disablement benefit in the last three years; and how many of these were posthumous claims for backdated benefit;
	(2)  what the occupations were of claimants of industrial injuries disablement benefit for mesothelioma in the last three years.

Jim Murphy: holding answer 20 June 2006
	The available information is in the following table. Although included in the table, information on the number of posthumous claims for backdated benefit is not available separately.
	
		
			  Mesothelioma diagnoses in connection with a claim to industrial injuries disablement benefit by occupation 
			   Number 
			2002  2003  2004  2005 
			  All occupations 1,000 1,170 1,345 1,175 
			   
			 11 Corporate managers 15 25 15 15 
			 12 Managers and proprietors in agriculture and services 5 5 — — 
			 21 Science and technology professionals 60 95 105 90 
			 22 Health professionals — — — 5 
			 23 Teaching and research professionals 5 10 10 10 
			 24 Business and public service professionals 5 5 5 5 
			 31 Science and technology associate professionals 45 40 50 35 
			 32 Health and social welfare associate professionals 5 5 — 10 
			 33 Protective service occupations 10 10 10 5 
			 34 Culture, media and sports occupations — — 5 — 
			 35 Business and public service associate professionals 10 10 15 5 
			 41 Administrative occupations 20 20 35 20 
			 42 Secretarial and related occupations 5 5 10 10 
			 51 Skilled agricultural trades 5 5 10 10 
			 52 Skilled metal and electrical trades 270 310 350 290 
			 53 Skilled construction and building trades 265 285 335 315 
			 54 Textiles, printing and other skilled trades 15 25 20 30 
			 61 Caring personal service occupations 5 5 5 5 
			 62 Leisure and other personal services occupations 5 5 10 10 
			 71 Sales occupations 5 10 10 5 
			 72 Customer service occupations 5 — 5 — 
			 81 Process, plant and machine operatives 115 150 160 140 
			 82 Transport and mobile machine drivers and operatives 20 35 35 45 
			 91 Elementary trades, plant and storage related occupations 90 110 115 100 
			 92 Elementary administration and service occupations 20 15 20 15 
			  Notes: 1. The table uses the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO-8). 2. Figures for 2005 are for nine months only and are provisional. 3. — Nil or Negligible. 4. Numbers are rounded to the nearest five.  Source: All figures are from a 100 per cent. sample of clerical forms received from the Disablement Benefit offices.

National Insurance

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether under his proposals for pensions a man with childcare responsibilities requiring a career break will receive national insurance contribution credits.

James Purnell: As part of our package of proposed reforms, published in Security in retirement: towards a new pensions system (Cm 6841), we want to make the state pension scheme fairer and more widely available. The changes would give people more certainty about what state pension entitlement they are building up, while retaining the contributory principle.
	Replacing home responsibilities protection with national insurance credits for those reaching state pension age on or after 6 April 2010 means the person awarded child benefit for a child under age 12—whether that is a man or a woman—would be entitled to national insurance credits. The credits, which would count towards both the basic and additional state pension in the same way as paid contributions, would therefore be available to men on career breaks if they were awarded the child benefit.

Pension Credit

Eric Martlew: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many residents in each electoral ward in Carlisle constituency receive pension credit.

James Purnell: The information is in the following table.
	
		
			  Pension credit individual beneficiaries in Carlisle, November 2005 
			  Ward name( 1)  Individual beneficiaries( 2) 
			 Belah 225 
			 Belle Vue 295 
			 Botcherby 380 
			 Burgh 45 
			 Castle 305 
			 Currock 255 
			 Dalston 190 
			 Denton Holme 365 
			 Harraby 385 
			 Morton 585 
			 St. Aidans 320 
			 Stanwix Urban(3) 230 
			 Upperby 505 
			 Yewdale 250 
			 Carlisle constituency total 4,280 
			 (1) Wards are based on 2003 ward boundaries.  (2) The number of individual beneficiaries includes both claimants and their partners.  (3) Only part of Stanwix Urban ward falls within Carlisle parliamentary constituency.   Note:  Number of individual beneficiaries are rounded to a multiple of five, therefore ward totals do not always sum to area totals.   Source:  DWP Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS) 100 per cent. data.

Pension Credit

Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many residents of Luton South receive pension credit, broken down by ward.

James Purnell: The information is in the following table.
	
		
			  Pension credit individual beneficiaries for wards in Luton South parliamentary constituency, November 2005 
			  Ward name( 1)  Individual beneficiaries( 2) 
			 Barnfield(3) 170 
			 Biscot 950 
			 Crawley 285 
			 Dallow 885 
			 Parley 830 
			 High Town 350 
			 Round Green 540 
			 South 630 
			 Stopsley 305 
			 Wigmore 360 
			 Caddington, Hyde and Slip End 305 
			 Luton South constituency total 5,420 
			 (1) Wards are based on 2003 ward boundaries.  (2) The number of individual beneficiaries includes both claimants and their partners.  (3) Only part of Barnfield ward falls within Luton South parliamentary constituency.   Note:  Number of individual beneficiaries are rounded to a multiple of five, therefore ward totals do not always sum to area totals.   Source:  DWP Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS) 100 per cent. data.

Pensioner Poverty

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what measures his Department has taken to reduce pensioner poverty in Coventry South since 1997.

James Purnell: The seventh annual 'Opportunity for all' report (Cm 6673) sets out the Government's strategy for tackling poverty and social exclusion and reports progress against a range of indicators.
	The Government have introduced a number of measures since 1997 to help older people enjoy a better standard of living, such as minimum income guarantee, and then its successor, pension credit, winter fuel payments, free TV licences for over 75s and increases above inflation in the basic state pension. The minimum level of income pensioners are expected to live on has increased by a third in real terms since 1997. As at November 2005, 4,800 people in Coventry South constituency were receiving pension credit.
	Between 1996-97 and 2004-05 numbers of pensioners in Great Britain in relative low income, after housing costs, have fallen by over a third from 2.8 million to 1.8 million. Pensioners are now less likely to be in low-income than younger people, on an after housing costs basis. Information on the numbers of pensioners in low income is not available at constituency level.
	The Pensions White Paper "Security in retirement: towards a new pensions system" (Cm 6841) announced our commitment to uprate the pension credit standard guarantee and the basic state pension in line with earnings growth ensuring that we continue to tackle pensioner poverty.

Prescribed Disease A11

David Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he expects the changes to the terms of prescription for Prescribed Disease A11 to be put in place.

Jim Murphy: Our current plans are to introduce the changes in June 2007.

State Pension

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether under his proposals for pensions women with no childcare responsibilities will qualify for a full basic state pension with 30 years' contributions.

James Purnell: The proposals, published in the White Paper, Security in retirement: towards a new pensions system (Cm6841), are designed to enable more women and men to maximise their state pension entitlement, while retaining the contributory basis of the system.
	Under these proposals, women with no childcare responsibilities who reach state pension age on or after 6 April 2010 would qualify for a full basic state pension on the basis of 30 years' contributions. The thirty qualifying years could be achieved through paid national insurance contributions, the award of credits, or a combination of both, including our proposed more generous crediting arrangements. The proposals would apply equally to men in this position.

Work Search Premium Pilots

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department is taking to evaluate the Work Search Premium pilots.

Jim Murphy: The Work Search Premium (WSP) pilots are running in eight Jobcentre Plus districts. Lone parents participating in the pilots are paid a £20 a week premium for a maximum of 26 weeks to help with the costs associated with searching for work. Participation is voluntary and certain eligibility criteria must be met. Participants agree to undertake intensive work search and will also be entitled to help with the cost of formal childcare while undertaking work search activities.
	The evaluation of the pilots aims to assess the long and short term effect of the pilots on lone parents and movements off benefit and into work. It consists of a quantitative impact assessment which will estimate the net impact of the WSP pilots on patterns of flows off Income Support and other working age benefits like jobseeker's allowance, as well as other outcomes like entry into work.
	The first published report, which we expect to publish in the autumn, will use 12 months of programme data and will examine the impact of the WSP on those lone parents already claiming benefit at the time of introduction of the pilot. A report covering 30 months of data will be published in autumn 2008, and one covering 48 months of data will be published in spring 2010.
	In addition, qualitative evaluation will explore the impact of the pilots on the attitudes, motivations and responses of eligible lone parents, and examine the effectiveness of delivery. This will include interviews with lone parents and Jobcentre Plus lone parent advisers. We expect this report to be available in spring 2007.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Energy Efficiency

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the main barriers to the UK making more and better use of energy efficiency methods; and what steps his Department is taking with other Departments to overcome these barriers.

Ian Pearson: The Energy Efficiency Innovation Review, published jointly by Her Majesty's Treasury and DEFRA last December, assessed the barriers to the increased take-up of energy efficiency measures. These include high up-front investment costs, lack of access to capital, split incentives, other market failures, the hassle factor, lack of consumer information and mistrust of suppliers or installers. Further information can be found on the DEFRA website:
	http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/energy/review/.
	This evidence has been used to inform the Review of the UK Climate Change programme, published in March this year, and the ongoing Energy Policy Review. For example, in the household sector, the Energy Efficiency Innovation Review identified consumer misapprehension of the costs and benefits of energy efficiency as a key barrier. The Government have subsequently announced a £20 million initiative to promote consumer uptake of energy efficiency measures, working with energy suppliers and local authorities.

Environmental Liability Directive

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he expects the consultation on the implementation of the Environmental Liability Directive to start.

Michael Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 6 June 2006,  Official Report, column 499W, on the Environmental Liability Directive, why the first of the two consultations on the Environmental Liability Directive on policy options has been delayed.

Ian Pearson: The first public consultation on the implementation of the Environmental Liability Directive will be launched later this year.
	The Government are still considering how best to present the options for transposing the Directive. The Directive raises many issues because of its relationship with existing domestic environmental protection legislation. The Government want to ensure that the issues are clearly set out for optimum stakeholder engagement.

Municipal Waste

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he will report on the progress of his Department's 10 demonstration plants to encourage new technologies to treat biodegradable municipal waste.

Ben Bradshaw: A full report of all of the demonstration projects will be published as soon as DEFRA have completed due diligence and agreed contracts with technology providers.
	At present DEFRA have completed four contracts and it is anticipated that a number of others will be completed by the end of June 2006.
	The four signed contracts are with Bioganix, Greenfinch/South Shropshire, Premier Waste and Novera. Further information on these technologies is available on the DEFRA website at the following address:
	http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/wip/newtech/dem-programme/index.htm

Rural Stress

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research his Department has commissioned into stress in rural areas; what assessment he has made of levels of stress in rural areas; and what measures are being taken to reduce levels of stress in rural areas.

Barry Gardiner: holding answer 22 June 2006
	In 2003 DEFRA funded a study by Exeter university reviewing research on rural stress. In 2005 a study into "The Wider Social Impacts of Changes in the Structure of Agricultural Businesses" also considered issues of stress in the farming community.
	Copies of these reports are available online at:
	http://www.centres.ex.ac.uk/crr/pdf1/reports1/StressReview FinalReport.pdf
	http://www.defra.gov.uk/rural/research/soc_impact.htm
	DEFRA is closely involved with a number of voluntary and community organisations working to alleviate the level of stress in rural areas through the Rural Stress Action plan. The plan supports £300,000 worth of projects each year, and funds are committed until March 2008.
	Since it began in 2000 there have been two full evaluations of the Rural Stress Action plan. Copies of these can be found on the DEFRA website.
	http://www.defra.gov.uk/rural/stress/default.htm

Thames Water (Leaks)

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the implications of the failure of Thames Water to meet its leakage targets for the regulatory year 2005-06; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: The failure of Thames Water to meet its leakage targets for the regulatory year 2005-06 is disappointing. The Economic Regulator, Ofwat, has already said that it views the issue as serious and will carefully scrutinise the company's annual return before deciding on regulatory action. Ofwat is responsible for setting leakage targets and has powers to deal with poor performance. I will not pre-empt Ofwat's response on this issue.

Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what definition of research he uses in relation to  (a) the Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (No. 2) Regulations 2006, Part 2(4) and  (b) EC Regulation 999/2001.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 26 June 2006
	It is not possible to define research specifically in the context of the above regulations; indeed, it is not deemed necessary to do so. My Department, in collaboration with other funding bodies, seeks to facilitate investigations that will further scientific knowledge on Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSE) but has to take into account the likelihood of success, scope for sound interpretation of data and relevance to policy needs before funds can be committed. Investigations that are specifically addressed by the above regulations and which are statutory obligations would normally be classed as surveillance, namely investigations that determine the existence of TSEs in individual animals or targeted populations. Research and surveillance are complementary, and evidence arising in one area inevitably impacts on the other.

TRANSPORT

Departmental Staff

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many staff in his Department have had  (a) five or more,  (b) four,  (c) three and  (d) two periods of sick leave of less than five days in each of the last three years.

Gillian Merron: The figures for the Department for Transport and its agencies for periods of sick leave of less than five days in the last three years are as follows:
	
		
			  Periods of sick leave  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			 Five or more 1,395 1,378 1,516 
			 Four 780 733 919 
			 Three 626 602 826 
			 Two 1,044 1,066 1,525 
		
	
	The Department is committed to managing sick absence effectively and to putting in place the recommendations of the 'Managing Sickness Absence in the Public Sector' report. The DfT Board takes an active interest in the issue of attendance management, and a number of steps have already been taken.

Overseas Visits

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what overseas visits have been made by Ministers in his Department in  (a) 2004,  (b) 2005 and  (c) 2006.

Gillian Merron: Information about overseas visits undertaken by Ministers in the Department for Transport on official business, during 2004, 2005 and to date in 2006, has been placed in the Libraries of the House.
	All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the 'Ministerial Code' and 'Travel by Ministers', copies of which are available in the Library. Since 1999, the Government have published on an annual basis a list of all overseas visits by Cabinet Ministers costing in excess of £500. Copies of the lists are available in the Library. Information for 2005-06 is currently being compiled and will be published when it is ready.

Rail Services (Cheltenham Spa)

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the  (a) earliest and  (b) last trains (i) to Cheltenham Spa from London Paddington and (ii) from London Paddington to Cheltenham Spa were on (A) 6 June 1986, (B) 6 June 1996 and (C) 6 June 2006; how many direct and indirect train services were provided on a weekday between Cheltenham Spa and London Paddington on each of those dates; and how many of those services were direct in each case.

Derek Twigg: The earliest and last trains (direct) to/from Cheltenham Spa and London Paddington on weekdays were as follows:
	
		
			   1986  1996  2006 
			  First Services
			 London Paddington to Cheltenham Spa 06:40 05:30 06:48 
			 Cheltenham Spa to London Paddington 05:18 06:03 05:59 
			  Last Services
			 London Paddington to Cheltenham Spa 22:05 21:00 19:45 
			 Cheltenham Spa to London Paddington 21:10 21:00 22:10 
		
	
	The number of direct and indirect train services on weekdays to/from Cheltenham Spa and London Paddington was as follows:
	
		
			   At 6 June each year: 
			   1986  1996  2006 
			  London Paddington to Cheltenham Spa
			 Direct 14 4 8 
			 Indirect 0 15 14 
			  Cheltenham Spa to London Paddington
			 Direct 13 4 9 
			 Indirect 0 13 16 
			  Note: The connecting services shown are where connections are made at Swindon.

Reorganisation Strategies for DfT

Gwyneth Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will ensure that all measures for handling surplus staff arising from the Shared Service Programme set out in 'Reorganisation Strategies for DfT' are followed by his Department and its agencies.

Gillian Merron: The Department and its agencies will follow the principles of fairness and transparency set out in that document.

Road Safety

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many accidents involving heavy goods vehicles were reported to the police in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and how many involved foreign-registered heavy goods vehicles.

Stephen Ladyman: The number of personal injury road accidents reported to the police involving heavy goods vehicles in each year from 2001 to 2005 is shown in the following table. Identification of foreign registered vehicles involved in personal injury road accidents is possible only from 2005, the latest year for which data are available.
	
		
			  Accidents involving heavy goods vehicles( 1)  and accidents involving foreign registered foreign goods vehicles: 2001-05 
			   Heavy goods vehicles (HGVs)  Foreign registered HGVs 
			 2001 13,631 — 
			 2002 12,427 — 
			 2003 12,205 — 
			 2004 11,542 — 
			 2005 11,162 1,098 
			 (1) Heavy goods vehicles are goods vehicles over 3.5 tonnes maximum gross weight.

South West Trains

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what account was taken of plans for future housing and infrastructure in the formulation of the new South West Trains franchise; and if he will make a statement.

Derek Twigg: The specification for the new South Western franchise has been developed to build upon the current franchise operation. The future levels of forecast demand have been based on standard rail industry modelling assumptions.
	A new and improved service will operate between Salisbury and Romsey via Southampton Central and Southampton Airport Parkway, replacing the Romsey-Totton service via Eastleigh. The new service will create a regular half-hourly Salisbury-Southampton service, create new travel opportunities between Salisbury and Southampton airport, and allow stops to be made at Dunbridge and Dean.
	In addition, services in South Hampshire and Dorset have been enhanced to provide a second train each hour through to Weymouth from London, and cross-Bournemouth services to be improved. It is also proposed that an hourly semi-fast Southampton-Brighton service be introduced to connect these major urban areas.
	Franchise replacements are not vehicles for significant infrastructure investment. However, they do need to consider infrastructure schemes that have committed funds to enable their delivery, and the South Western franchise process has adhered to this approach.

Vandalism

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many incidents of vandalism were reported to the British Transport Police in the last 12 months, broken down by  (a) Government office region and  (b) constituency.

Derek Twigg: The British Transport Police do not record vandalism offences by either Government office region or constituency and therefore this data can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Coroners (Northern Ireland)

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many  (a) coroners and  (b) deputy coroners there have been in Northern Ireland in each year since 1997.

Harriet Harman: The number of coroners and deputy coroners in Northern Ireland since 1997 is set out in the following table:
	
		
			   Presiding judge  Full-time coroners  Part-time coroners  Deputy coroners 
			 1997 — 1 6 5 
			 1998 — 1 6 5 
			 1999 — 1 6 5 
			 2000 — 1 6 5 
			 2001 — 3 6 5 
			 2002 — 3 6 5 
			 2003 — 3 6 5 
			 2004 — 3 6 5 
			 2005 — 3 6 5 
			 2006 1 3 0 1

Coroners (Northern Ireland)

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the  (a) legal background and  (b) practitioner experience is of each (i) coroner in Northern Ireland, (ii) deputy coroner who served between 1997 and 2006 and (iii) newly appointed (A) coroner and (B) deputy coroner.

Harriet Harman: With the exception of one part-time coroner who was a barrister, all coroners and deputy coroners who served between 1997 and 2006 were solicitors. Of the two full-time coroners appointed in April 2006, one was a barrister and the other was a solicitor. In addition a High Court judge was appointed to the office of coroner in May 2006 to be the presiding judge for the Coroners Service.
	With effect from 15 October 2002 in order to be eligible for appointment to the position of coroner or deputy coroner in Northern Ireland a person must be a barrister or a solicitor of at least five years standing.
	The professional standing of coroners appointed since 15 October 2002 is as follows:
	
		
			  Date appointed  Barrister/solicitor  Number of years standing 
			 3 April 2006 Solicitor 19 
			 3 April 2006 Barrister 13 
		
	
	Prior to 15 October 2002 eligibility for appointment as a coroner or deputy coroner in Northern Ireland was based on having practised for not less then five years as a barrister or solicitor. Details of the number of years in practice of individual coroners appointed prior to 15 October 2002 are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Court Service (Suffolk)

David Ruffley: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will make a statement on the recent performance of the Court Service in Suffolk.

Harriet Harman: Figures are provided to cover performance against key targets over financial year 2005-06 compared with the previous year. The information is as follows:
	 Ineffective trials
	2005-06 Crown—4 per cent. Improved from 10 per cent. last year. Target 15 per cent.
	2005-06 Magistrates—12 per cent. Improved from 15 per cent. last year. Target 16 per cent.
	 Crown Court Timeliness
	2005-06—84 per cent. of cases dealt with within target (Trials 16 weeks, Section 51 26 weeks, Committals for Sentence 10 weeks, Appeals 14 weeks). Up from 81 per cent. last year. Target 78 per cent.
	 Persistent Young Offenders (Crown and Magistrates)
	2005-06—37 days arrest to sentence. Down from 25 days last year. Target 71 days or less.
	 Payment rate (Magistrates Courts)
	2005-06—109 per cent. Up from 102 per cent. last year. Target 89 per cent.
	 Family Public Law
	Percentage cases completed within 40 weeks.
	2005-06 County Court—64 per cent. Up from 61 per cent. last year. Target 70 per cent.
	2005-06 Magistrates—73 per cent. Down from 77 per cent. last year. Target 70 per cent.
	 County Court Small Claims
	2005-06—90 per cent. of cases dealt with within 15 weeks. Up from 73 per cent. last year. Target 80.5 per cent.
	 County Court Fast Track
	2005-06—79 per cent. of cases dealt with within 30 weeks. Down from 91 per cent. last year. Target 78 per cent.
	 County Court Multi Track
	2005-06—100 per cent. of cases dealt with within 50 weeks as last year. Target 78 per cent.
	 Community Penalty Breach Warrants
	Percentage of proceedings resolved within 25 days.
	2005-06—72 per cent. Up from 41 per cent. last year. Target 50 per cent.

Departmental Pensions

Robert Wilson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will estimate the pension liability of her Department over the next 30 years.

Bridget Prentice: The hon. Member is referred to a technical Note by HM Treasury which was placed in the Library of the House on 2 March 2006, O fficial Report, columns 388-90, following an oral statement in Parliament by the then Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
	Pension liabilities are not estimated for individual departments, they are estimated for individual pension schemes, as shown in the breakdown of liabilities per pension scheme given in Table 1 of the technical Note.

Dr. David Kelly

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs pursuant to the Answer of 14 June 2006,  Official Report, columns 1255-67W, on Dr. David Kelly, what discussions took place between  (a) the coroner,  (b) the deputy coroner,  (c) the assistant deputy coroner of Oxfordshire and  (d) anyone else responsible to the Oxfordshire coroner and (i) her Department and (ii) Lord Hutton before the local registrar's decision to issue a certified copy of entry in the register of deaths for Dr. David Kelly.

Harriet Harman: Dr. Kelly's death was registered on 18 August 2003 following the adjournment of the inquest at the request of the Lord Chancellor under Section 17A of the Coroners Act 1988. My officials met the coroner on 11 August 2003. At the outset of Lord Hutton's inquiry the coroner was in contact with the inquiry secretariat to explore the boundaries of their respective jurisdictions and to provide the inquiry with information relating to Dr. Kelly's death. No other discussions took place between the coroner, the deputy coroner, the assistant deputy coroner of Oxfordshire and anyone else responsible to the Oxfordshire coroner and either my Department or Lord Hutton.

Electoral Fraud

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many incidents of  (a) postal vote fraud and  (b) other electoral fraud there were in (i) European elections, (ii) parliamentary elections and (iii) local elections in each of the last 30 years.

Bridget Prentice: Information in this detail is not collected centrally. However, I refer my hon. Friend to the previous answer on 13 June 2005,  Official Report, column 181W, for information on electoral fraud convictions. Since then, I am aware that in Halton, in May 2006 a former Labour councillor was convicted and fined for electoral fraud offences relating to the local and European parliamentary elections in 2004.

Judges (Part-time)

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs pursuant to the answer of 30 January 2006,  Official Report, columns 151-52W, on judges (part-time), if she will maintain and publish a central list of part-time judges.

Harriet Harman: Following the implementation of the Constitutional Reform Act in April 2006, the Judicial Communications Office, in supporting the Lord Chief Justice, has taken over responsibility for maintaining and publishing lists of the judiciary from my Department. On the Judicial website, there are currently lists of full-time judiciary down to and including circuit judges (www.judiciary.gov.uk). I understand that they are considering what further information can be included and whether in due course these lists can be extended to include all salaried or fee-paid holders of judicial office.

Magistrates

David Davis: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the total funding allocated for the training of magistrates was in each of the last eight years.

Harriet Harman: The management information currently available within DCA and HM Courts Service is not able to easily extract the data for the periods requested. Therefore, this information cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost. With the inception of HMCS last year, consistent systems and processes to merge magistrate courts are being established to ensure that the data are easily captured and will be available for the future period.

MMR Vaccine

John Baron: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much legal aid has been spent on  (a) solicitors',  (b) barristers' and  (c) experts' fees in respect of the MMR vaccine litigation cases in which all proceedings are complete; which firms of solicitors, barristers and experts have received payments for these cases; and how much has been paid to each firm.

Vera Baird: The Legal Services Commission (LSC) is still awaiting confirmation of the outcome of the final detailed assessment by the court. Once this has been completed, and the LSC has settled the claims, I will write to the hon. Member.

MMR Vaccine

John Baron: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs which barrister was paid  (a) £463,782,  (b) £445,601 and  (c) £424,659 in legal aid fees in the MMR vaccine litigation, as referred to in the answers to House of Lords questions HL 3418 and HL 3419; what hourly rate was paid to each barrister; and whether these payments represent risk rates paid because the service providers would be unlikely to profit from a case which was not successful.

Vera Baird: Final assessment for the advocates involved with this litigation have yet to be made by the courts. I will therefore write to the hon. Member with the information requested, when the final payments have been settled.

Personal Protection (Judiciary)

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much was spent on providing personal protection to members of the judiciary in each year since 1997.

Harriet Harman: It is the policy of this Department not to disclose details or the cost of security provided to individuals as to do so may compromise their security.

Post-mortem Reports

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the recommended time is within which a family should be sent a copy of a post-mortem report; and in how many cases such reports were written and sent  (a) within the recommended time and  (b) after the recommended time in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Harriet Harman: There is no recommended time within which a family should be sent a copy of a coroner's post-mortem report, although good practice recommends that a copy should be sent on request to the immediate next of kin in advance of the inquest. There are accordingly no central records kept relating to the post-mortem reports sent by coroners.

Private Members' Bills

David Amess: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what Private Members' Bills were drafted by her Department in each Session since 1997; and which of those received Royal Assent.

Vera Baird: Members will consider a range of possible subjects before introducing their Private Members' Bills.
	Government draftsmen do draft some Bills in advance which are available as one of the options for Members to consider before they make their selection.
	However, Members may make subsequent amendments or revisions to a Government drafted Bill, or use it as the basis for a Private Member's Bill in the future.
	The information requested is therefore not collected.

Queens's Counsel (Northern Ireland)

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many Queen's Counsel have been appointed to the Bar in Northern Ireland in each year since 1997; what the community background was of the appointees; and whether there were any declared family relationships between members of the appointing panel and any of the appointees.

Bridget Prentice: Queen's Counsel have been appointed in Northern Ireland since 1997 as follows:
	
		
			   Number of Queen's Counsel appointed 
			 1999 12 
			 2001 13 
			 2006 16 
		
	
	Prior to the 2006 Silk round the community background on appointees was not recorded.
	Of the 16 Queen's Counsel appointed this year, seven are Protestant, six are Roman Catholic, and three did not indicate their community background.
	During the recent selection process one member of the panel absented himself from the panel's deliberations in respect of one applicant who was his daughter-in-law.

Special Advisers

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what role is played by special advisers in answering parliamentary questions asked of her Department.

Bridget Prentice: Special advisers conduct themselves in accordance with the requirements of the code of conduct for special advisers.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

European Sports Review

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress she is making in implementing the recommendations of the Independent European Sports Review.

Richard Caborn: The first step following publication of the Review is for all interested parties to consider its recommendations very carefully before deciding whether these should be implemented and, if so, how.
	My officials and legal advisers are consulting with other Government Departments, the football authorities and other interested sporting bodies. I intend to respond formally to the review in September.

Olympics

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress she is making in her discussions with the Home Office on granting an exemption from firearms legislation for target pistol shooting training for the Olympics; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: I have written to my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary to draw his attention to the impact that the current firearms legislation places upon our elite shooters' ability to train for major international shooting competitions in Great Britain. I have asked ask him to consider how this situation could be improved within the parameters of the existing firearms legislation. To date I have not received a response.

Olympics

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 23 May 2006,  Official Report, columns 1640-1W, on the London Olympics, when discussions with the English Institute of Sport (EIS) and the Summer Olympic Sports are expected to be finalised; and when a decision is expected to be made on the amount of funding allocated to each sport for use on EIS Services within the World Class Pathway Summer Olympic programme 2006-09.

Richard Caborn: In line with its investment model UK Sport has confirmed the indicative value of existing EIS services for each funded summer Olympic sport through to 2009. In addition, these sports now have a guideline figure to be spent on Sports Science and Sports Medicine within their total World Class Performance Pathway funding.
	Those sports that already have a relationship with the EIS are in the process of determining how best to allocate the additional financial resource they have received for Sport Science/Sports Medicine services for the period 2006-09. These decisions are likely to be finalised after the summer competition season, in September or October this year.
	The new sports with no existing relationship are at the very early stages of planning their performance activity and are unlikely to finalise their Institute service requirements until later in the year.
	UK Sport, the EIS and the Summer Olympic Sports will continue to discuss the role of the Institute network in supporting athletes throughout the build up to the Beijing Olympic games and beyond.

Rowing Safety

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent discussions she has had about rowing safety; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: Since the adjournment debate on rowing safety in March, I have met with my hon. Friend the Member for Ashton-under-Lyne (David Heyes) and his constituents Stephen and Jane Blockley to hear their concerns on the issue. I have also written to the Amateur Rowing Association to ask them to clarify the matter of boat buoyancy and to the international rowing governing body FISA to better understand its position on that issue.
	Safety in any water sport is paramount and given that there is divided opinion on the issue I consider that it would be helpful to have an objective view of the current guidance and evidence available. I have therefore asked Sport England to identify an appropriate organisation to undertake an independent review of rowing safety.

Shrewsbury

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will visit Shrewsbury  (a) to see the plans for a new theatre and  (b) to discuss Shropshire's role in the 2012 Olympic games.

Richard Caborn: I am aware of plans to build a new theatre in Shrewsbury and understand that Arts Council England's West Midlands office is in contact with the council over the project.
	I do not have plans to visit Shrewsbury at the current time. However, representatives from the DCMS and the London Organising Committee for the Olympic games (LOCOG) will be visiting Much Wenlock in Shropshire as part of the forthcoming 2012 Regional Roadshow on 10 July.
	The Roadshow aims to ensure that local communities and businesses are fully engaged with the cultural, sporting, economic and social aspects of the games. It forms a valuable part of the work currently being taken forward by the Nations and Regions Group, chaired by Charles Allen and supported by LOCOG, to maximise benefits in every nation and region of the UK.

Special Advisers

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what role is played by special advisers in answering parliamentary questions asked of her Department.

David Lammy: Special advisers conduct themselves in accordance with the requirements of the code of conduct for special advisers.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

32 (The Royal) Squadron

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in respect of what official duties the Minister for Europe used 32 (The Royal) Squadron for flights on  (a) 29 September 2003 and  (b) 30 September 2002; what the take-off and landing times were of each flight; whether the carbon emissions were offset in respect of each flight; which other transport options were considered on each occasion; why other transport options were not used; and if he will make a statement.

Geoff Hoon: The then Ministers for Europe used 32 (The Royal) Squadron to fly to Brussels to attend the General Affairs and External Relations Council, on behalf of the then Foreign Secretary, my right hon. Friend the Member for Blackburn (Mr. Jack Straw) on both 29 September 2003—my right hon. Friend the Member for Rotherham (Mr. MacShane)—and 30 September 2002—my right hon. Friend the Member for Neath (Mr. Hain). The flight details on each occasion were as follows:
	
		
			  29 September 2003  30 September 2002 
			  Departed  Time  Arrived  Time  Departed  Time  Arrived  Time 
			 RAF Northolt 6.45 am Brussels 7.35 am Northolt 6.00 am Brussels 6.55 am 
			 Brussels 3.15 pm Bournemouth 4.45 pm Brussels 3.30 pm Blackpool 4.30 pm 
			 Bournemouth 5.5 pm RAF Northolt 5.30 pm Blackpool 4.45 pm RAF Northolt 5.25 pm 
		
	
	Carbon dioxide emissions arising from 32 Squadron flights are included in the Government's carbon offsetting commitment. Carbon emissions arising from the use of these flights have been recorded and offset in the same way as the use of scheduled flights since April 2005.
	In accordance with the guidance in "Travel by Ministers", other transport options were considered on each occasion. On both occasions, the option of the Minister and officials travelling by 32 (The Royal) Squadron to Brussels was chosen to enable Ministers to meet their commitments in an efficient way. The rules on the use of special flights are set out in "Travel by Ministers". The annual lists of overseas travel by Cabinet Ministers costing over £500 set out when special flights are used, and the purpose of each trip. Copies are available in the Library of the House.

Afghanistan

Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many  (a) primary schools,  (b) middle schools and  (c) high schools there were in the Helmand region in each year since 2003; and how many of these schools have been closed due to (i) security risks and (ii) activities of insurgent groups.

Kim Howells: In light of the security situation in Helmand detailed education statistics are difficult to obtain.
	According to a 2005 survey by the UN Children's Fund, UNICEF, there were 253 schools in Helmand. Of 117,000 students, approximately 8,900 were girls. According to Helmand provincial Government's Department of Education there are now 224 Government of Afghanistan approved schools in the province. Of those, only 64 are currently operating in dedicated buildings. 66 schools are currently closed due to destroyed facilities or threats against teachers. To date we have been unable to obtain a more detailed breakdown of how many of these schools were closed because of Taliban action.
	The UK and other international partners are working closely with the Afghan Government to improve the quality and accessibility of education for all children across Afghanistan, in particular girls who were deprived of the opportunity under the Taliban.

Algeria

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations she has received regarding the compatibility of the proposed memorandum of understanding with Algeria regarding the deportation of persons with international human rights law; and what steps she is taking to ensure that any eventual agreement will fully meet the requirements of international law.

Ian McCartney: The Government have received a range of representations on the deportation of persons to Algeria, including from international human rights institutions and non-governmental organisations such as the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, and Amnesty International.
	The Government continue to believe that memoranda of understanding or comparable arrangements provide a framework to deport foreign nationals whom we believe threaten our security, in a manner consistent with our international human rights obligations. Any decision to deport is subject to appeal through the UK court system.
	In the case of Algeria, such deportation takes full account of the provisions of the Algerian Charter for Peace and Reconciliation, its accompanying provisions for clemency and the particular circumstances of each case.

Algeria

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what stage negotiations for a memorandum of understanding with Algeria regarding the deportation of persons has reached; and if she will make a statement.

Ian McCartney: The deportation of persons who pose a threat to the UK's national security is a subject of discussion between the British and Algerian Governments.
	The Government continue to believe that memoranda of understanding or comparable arrangements provide a framework to deport foreign nationals whom we believe threaten our security, in a manner consistent with our international human rights obligations. Any decision to deport is subject to appeal through the UK court system.
	In the case of Algeria, such deportation takes full account of the provisions of the Algerian Charter for Peace and Reconciliation, its accompanying provisions for clemency and the particular circumstances of each case.

Belarus

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if she will adopt a total trade ban on Belarus in response to malpractice in the presidential elections.

Geoff Hoon: Our trade relations with Belarus are conducted through the EU. All EU restrictions imposed in response to the fraudulent presidential elections are designed to target the regime, not the people of Belarus. As such, a unilateral trade ban in response to the fraudulent elections is not being considered at the moment.
	Separately, Belarus faces possible withdrawal of the general system of preferences (GSP)—the system of preferential trading arrangements through which the EU extends preferential access to its markets to developing countries. Eligibility for GSP benefits depends on International Labour Organisation monitoring of labour standards and an investigation last year uncovered serious and systematic violations.

Darfur

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if she will make a statement on the decision of the UN to suspend operations in part of Darfur; and what assessment she has made of the extent to which that decision was a consequence of the Government of Sudan's reluctance to agree to the handover of security from the African Union to the UN.

Ian McCartney: On 25 June, the Government of Sudan suspended all UN activity in Darfur apart from humanitarian assistance provided by the World Food Programme and the UN Children's Fund, UNICEF. They lifted the suspension the following day. There has been some impact on the UN's humanitarian work in West Darfur, but minimal disruption elsewhere.
	This was a provocative act by the Sudanese Government in response to the UN helping a prominent Darfur rebel. The Government of Sudan should allow all UN humanitarian agencies and non-governmental organisations unimpeded access in Darfur.
	The Sudanese Government currently oppose an international force for Darfur. However the UN Secretary-General has said he hopes to see a UN force in Darfur, the Security Council has taken a strong line in favour and the African Union wants to see the UN take over in Darfur, as do many prominent African countries. We will continue to press the Government of Sudan to accept it.

Darfur

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action the UK plans to take through the UN Security Council to put pressure on the Government of Sudan to agree to the introduction of UN troops as part of the Darfur Peace Agreement.

Ian McCartney: The UK led the recent UN Security Council mission to Sudan. That visit was important in securing Sudanese Government agreement for a joint UN/African Union Technical Assessment Mission (TAM) to deploy to Darfur. The TAM has now made its visit. It will make detailed technical recommendations shortly to the UN Secretary-General on establishing a UN force for Darfur, who will then report to the Security Council. Once he has done so, the Security Council will debate the mandate of a future UN force. We are continuing to press the Government of Sudan to accept such a force.

Darfur

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions she has had with the Government of Sudan on how to disarm the Janjaweed in Darfur.

Ian McCartney: We continue to press the Government of Sudan to neutralise and disarm the Janjaweed and expel foreign fighters from Darfur as soon as possible. On Friday 23 June, the Government of Sudan publicly began disarming a small group of Janjaweed in South Darfur. We welcome this step, and call on the Government to continue this work and to present a plan for neutralising and disarming the Janjaweed/armed militias, which they are required to do under the Darfur Peace Agreement.

Ethiopia

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations her Department has made to the Ethiopian government regarding  (a) the detention of prisoners of conscience,  (b) freedom of expression and opinion and  (c) human rights.

Ian McCartney: We remain concerned about the internal situation in Ethiopia. We have made representations to the Government of Ethiopia on numerous occasions both at ministerial and official level. Most recently our ambassador to Ethiopia had discussions with Prime Minister Meles on 24 April.
	We have also raised issues of respect for human rights, freedom of expression and the cases of those detained in connection with the political disturbances in 2005. We welcome the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry into the events of last June and November and look forward to its report.

Falkland Islands

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate she has made of the reserves of oil and gas in Falkland Islands waters.

Geoff Hoon: Only further exploratory drilling will allow for a dependable estimate on the size of the reserves of oil and gas in Falkland Islands waters. Initial exploratory drilling was unable to ascertain the level of oil and gas reserves and is unlikely to restart before 2007.

Falkland Islands

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment the Government have made of the potential contribution of the search for oil and gas in Falkland Islands waters to the provision of energy in the UK; and whether the Government are taking action to support such exploration.

Geoff Hoon: Only further exploratory drilling will allow for a dependable estimate on the size of the reserves of oil and gas in Falkland Islands waters. It is not therefore possible currently to assess the potential contribution to the provision of energy in the UK. Initial exploratory drilling was unable to ascertain the level of oil and gas reserves and is unlikely to restart before 2007.
	The Government are committed to the offshore prospecting policy pursued by the Falkland Islands Government.

Human Rights

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions she has had with China on the human rights records of the countries in Africa with which it trades.

Ian McCartney: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has not had specific discussions with China on human rights in Africa. We continue to develop our dialogue with China on Africa, and to encourage China to engage with Africa in a way that promotes human rights, conflict prevention, sustainable development and democratic and accountable governance. I raised these issues with the Chinese ambassador on 21 June and urged China to develop a wider strategic concept of its engagement in Africa commensurate with its growing economic presence. I also raised China's engagement in Africa with the Chairman of the UK Friendship Group of the China National People's Congress during my meeting with him on 13 June.

Iraq

Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what account will be taken of the views of the Iraqi Government when considering troop withdrawal from Iraq; and what assessment she has made of the recent comments by Iraq's  (a) Prime Minister and  (b) National Security Adviser on this issue.

Kim Howells: We are committed to Iraq for as long as the Iraqi Government judge that the coalition is required to provide security and to assist the Iraqi security forces. All decisions on the presence of multinational forces in Iraq reflect regular and intense consultation with the Iraqi authorities. Recommendations on the transfer of security responsibility in each of Iraq's provinces and cities from coalition to Iraqi security forces are made jointly, with the ultimate decision being made by the Iraqi Prime Minister.
	This process was reflected in Prime Minister Maliki's 19 June statement announcing the forthcoming transfer of security responsibility in Muthanna province and Mowaffak al-Rabaie's article of 20 June. We remain committed to providing what support we can to help the Iraqi authorities achieve our shared goal of a stable and democratic future for Iraq.

Libya

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions she had with the Libyan Government on bringing those responsible for the death of PC Yvonne Fletcher to justice.

Kim Howells: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has not had personal discussions with the Libyan Government about WPC Fletcher's case. I raised this with the Libyan authorities during my visit to Libya on 25 to 27 June. We continue to press for progress in our contacts with Libya.

Libya

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions she had with her Libyan counterpart on the situation in Darfur.

Ian McCartney: My hon. Friend the Minister of State for the Middle East, Kim Howells, raised the situation on Darfur with Abdulrahman Shalgam the Libyan Secretary of Foreign Affairs in Tripoli on 26 June. The UK's Special Envoy for Darfur also visited Libya earlier in June to hold talks about Sudan.

Student Visas

Douglas Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many student visas have been issued to students from  (a) Russia and  (b) the Ukraine in each of the last eight years.

Kim Howells: The number of student visas issued in Russia and the Ukraine in each of the last eight years are as follows:
	
		
			   Russia  Ukraine 
			 2004-05 3,734 2,098 
			 2003-04 8,900 1,895 
			 2002-03 2,757 2,715 
			 2001-02 7,131 3,325 
			 2000 2,450 4,218 
			 1999 3,525 3,319 
			 1998 6,036 3,867 
			 1997 9,267 3,590 
		
	
	Prior to 2001-02, entry clearance statistics were published by calendar year, rather than financial year.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Every Child Matters

Kali Mountford: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what progress has been made in implementing the Every Child Matters: Change for Children programme.

Beverley Hughes: We have made good progress. 863 children's centres are now operational. We are on track to deliver 2,500 centres by 2008. Over 1,500 schools are offering access to a core menu of extended services, and we are on track to have 2,500 extended schools in place by this September. From April this year £115 million has been available in support of our 'Youth Matters' reforms to radically improve opportunities and support for young people.

Every Child Matters

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what progress has been made in implementing the Every Child Matters: Change for Children programme.

Beverley Hughes: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to the hon. Member for Colne Valley (Kali Mountford) earlier today.

Language Learning

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what support his Department is making available to primary schools to ensure primary school pupils have the opportunity to learn a second language as early as possible.

Jim Knight: Our commitment is that by the end of this decade every key stage 2 pupil will have the opportunity to learn a foreign language.
	Between 2005 and 2008 we are investing £115 million to support our National Languages Strategy, £60 million of this will specifically support primary schools in introducing language learning programmes. This includes initial teacher training for new primary teachers with a language specialism, and in service training for teaching and non-teaching staff.

Teenage Pregnancy

Linda Riordan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what progress is being made on meeting the Government's target to reduce teenage pregnancy.

Beverley Hughes: Teenage pregnancy rates are declining steadily. Between 1998 and 2004, the under-18 conception rate fell by 11.1 per cent. and the under-16 conception rate fell by 15.2 per cent. Both rates are now at their lowest level since the mid-1980s. We know from the best performing areas what works, and will be sharing these lessons with all local authorities to accelerate progress towards our target to halve the under-18 conception rate by 2010.

Building Schools

Alan Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will visit Northumberland to discuss school building programmes and school budgets in the county.

Jim Knight: I am eager for the chance to visit Northumberland to discuss school building programmes and school budgets in the county. I am looking in my diary to find a suitable opportunity.

Youth Opportunity Card

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what progress has been made in establishing pilot projects for the Youth Opportunity Card.

Beverley Hughes: Progress is being made in establishing the Youth Opportunity Card pilots. We have chosen the ten local authorities where the pilots will run and are working closely with them and with other key partners to develop a workable delivery model. As with all initiatives there is a lot of detailed work to be done and we need to take the time to ensure we get it right.

TREASURY

Air Passenger Duty

David Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps to ensure  (a) that funds raised from the UK air passenger duty are separately identified when they are redeployed and  (b) that a greater percentage of those funds is directed to the international finance facility.

Edward Balls: The UK is committed to developing innovative financing mechanisms to support accelerated progress towards the millennium development goals, and has announced that it will hypothecate part of the existing air passenger duty to provide a long-term stream of finance to the International Finance Facility (IFF) and its pilot the IFF for Immunization (IFFIm).
	The UK air passenger duty revenue is published on an annual basis at: http://www.uktradeinfo.com/index. cfm?task=airpass. The UK contribution to IFFIm will average £71 million a year over 20 years. The UK contribution to the IFF will be determined when it is launched. With the IFF, the UK could reach the equivalent of the 0.7 per cent. ODA-GNI target, which could be achieved as early as 2008-09.

Batteries (VAT)

Danny Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the circumstances in which VAT is chargeable on  (a) wheelchair and mobility vehicle batteries and  (b) the fitting of wheelchair and mobility vehicle batteries; and whether there have been any recent changes to VAT rules in this area.

Dawn Primarolo: Batteries which have been designed solely for use with a wheelchair or mobility vehicle are VAT zero-rated when purchased by: a disabled person for his or her domestic or personal use; or a charity for making available to a disabled person for his or her domestic or personal use; or certain eligible bodies which pay for them with charitable funds; or a charity which will donate them to one of those eligible bodies.
	In some circumstances, the supply to a disabled person, charity or eligible body of any batteries as part of the repair and maintenance of a wheelchair or mobility vehicle is also zero-rated.
	There have been no recent changes to the VAT rules in this area.

Child Poverty

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what measures his Department has taken to reduce child poverty in Coventry south since 1997.

Dawn Primarolo: The Government's strategy to reduce child poverty was set out in the 'Child Poverty Review', published in July 2004. It consists of:
	financial support for families, with more support for those who need it most, when they need it most;
	work for those who can, helping parents participate in the labour market;
	tackling material deprivation;
	delivering high quality public services that improve children's life chances.
	Across the UK, these measures have helped 700,000 children out of poverty, since 1998-99. Tax credits are benefiting more than 420,000 families in the West Midlands region, and in Coventry South claimant unemployment has fallen by over 30 per cent. since 1997.

Correspondence

Michael Spicer: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Paymaster General will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire of 23 May on correspondence forwarded to her from Jobcentre Plus.

Dawn Primarolo: I have done so.

Customs (Cornwall)

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate has been made of the number of illegal items entering the UK via the Cornish coast in each year since 2001; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: No estimate is available specifically in relation to the Cornish coast.
	Information on operational results is published in the Annual Reports of HM Revenue and Customs. The most recent Annual Report was published on 19 December 2005. The figures for the year ending 31 March 2006 will be published in the next Annual Report.

Death Certificates

Norman Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 2 May 2006,  Official Report, column 1387W, on death certificates, who possesses the authority to alter a certified copy of a registration of death.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 29 June 2006:
	As Registrar General for England and Wales, I have been asked to reply to your recent question, pursuant to the Answer of 2nd May 2006, Official Report, column 1387W, on death certificates, who possesses the authority legitimately to alter a certified copy of a registration of death. (81213)
	The law provides for the registration officer who has custody of the death register containing the relevant record to make a correction. The register is kept by the registrar of births and deaths until all the entries in the register have been completed (there are usually 300 entries in a register). Once the register is filled it is deposited with the Superintendent Registrar for the district, who then assumes responsibility for correcting any of the records it contains. A certified copy (or certificate) is a copy of the entry in the register and must be a true copy of that entry. If an entry in a death register is corrected a certified copy of the corrected entry may be issued by the person with custody of the register.

Death Statistics

Joan Walley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the most recent rate of  (a) cancers and  (b) stroke was in (i) Stoke-on-Trent, (ii) the West Midlands and (iii) England.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 29 June 2006:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what the most recent rate of (a) cancers and (b) stroke was in (i) Stoke-on-Trent, (ii) the West Midlands and (iii) England.
	 A: Cancers
	The latest available rates for newly diagnosed cases of cancer (incidence) are for the year 2003. Registration rates per 100,000 population, by site and sex, for (ii) the West Midlands and (iii) England for the year 2003 are available in Table 5 of the Annual Reference Volume, Cancer statistics: Registrations, Series MB1. These are available on the National Statistics website:
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=8843 &Pos=l4&ColRank=2&Rank=272
	The most recent cancer incidence rates for all malignant cancers excluding non-melanoma skin cancer are given in Table 1 below for (i) Stoke on Trent Unitary Authority (ii) the West Midlands and (iii) England.
	 B: Stroke
	There is no complete register of stroke cases. Information is available centrally on emergency admission to hospital from the NHS Hospital Episode System (HES), and on death registrations.
	Figures on emergency admissions to hospital for strokes can be found on the Clinical and Health Outcomes Knowledge Base website: http://www.nchod.nhs.uk/. (Table reference numbers: 10C_5281SR7CM_04-V2 (males) 10C_5281SR7CF_04-V2 (females)). Figures are available for England, Government Office Regions, Strategic Health Authorities, Unitary Authorities and County Districts. The latest year for which data are available is for the financial year 2003/04.
	The latest year for which death rates for stroke are available is 2004 and these are given in Table 2 below.
	
		
			  Table 1. Incidence rates( 1)  per 100,000 population for all malignant cancers( 2) , by sex, registered in Stoke on Trent local authority, West Midlands Government office region and England, 2003 
			  Incidence rate per 100,000 
			  All cancers excluding nmsc  Stoke on Trent  West Midlands  England 
			 Male 518.0 478.0 462.0 
			 Female 490.0 450.0 451.0 
			 (1) Crude rates per 100,000 population.  (2) 'All malignant cancers' are defined by codes C00-C97 excluding non-melanoma skin cancer (nmsc) code C44 in the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD 10).   Source:  Office for National Statistics 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2. Death rates(1) from stroke(2) for Stoke-on-Trent local authority, West Midlands Government office region and England,(3) by sex, 2004(4) 
			  Death rate per 100,000—Stroke 
			  All cancers excluding nmsc  Stoke on Trent  West Midlands  England 
			 Male 71.0 66.0 59.0 
			 Female 61.0 58.0 55.0 
			 (1) Rates per 100,000 population standardised to the European Standard Population. (2) The cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). The codes used are listed as follows:  Cerebrovascular diseases—ICD-10160-169; Deaths were selected using the original underlying cause. (3) Usual residents of these areas. (4) Deaths registered in each calendar year

Departmental Papers

David Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list in date order  (a) Green and  (b) White papers produced by his Department since October 2005.

John Healey: A list in date order of Command Papers published by the Treasury since November 2001 can by found on the website of the Office of Public Sector Information (www.opsi.gov.uk). Information relating specifically to White Papers and to Green Papers—terms which are not formally defined—is not available.

Deposited Papers

David Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy to make copies of deposited papers available in the  (a) Vote Office and  (b) Printed Paper Office at the same time as copies are deposited in the Library; and if he will make a statement.

John Healey: The Treasury acts in accordance with the guidance issued by the House of Commons Library and makes available in the Vote Office and the Printed Paper Office multiple copies of deposited papers that are likely to be required by a large number of Members.

Deposited Papers

David Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list deposited papers placed in the Library by his Department since 2000; and when each was published.

John Healey: The Treasury does not maintain a database of the numerous documents deposited in the Library each session. However, deposited papers are available to Members from the Library of the House.

Household Incomes

Vincent Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what the  (a) median and  (b) mean household income was in the latest year for which information is available; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what the lower limit of the top decile for household earnings was in the latest year for which information is available; and if he will make a statement.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 29 June 2006:
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions asking what the (a) median and (b) mean household income was in the latest year available and what is the lower limit of the top decile for household earnings for the latest year for which information is available. I am replying in her absence. (80640, 80641)
	This response is based on the article titled 'The effects of taxes and benefits on household income' which takes account of all household income and can be found at http://www.statistics.gov.uk/taxesbenefits, as well as in the May 2006 edition of Economic Trends.
	Disposable income is the income available for spending. It includes income from all sources after the deduction of income tax, National Insurance Contributions and council tax/Northern Ireland rates.
	Using data based on the above analysis the median household disposable income for 2004/05 was £20,398.
	Looking at table 14, appendix 1 (page 20), the mean household disposable income for 2004/05 was £25,360 per year.
	The article does also show the means for various other definitions of income, such as gross income. However, the analysis does not show the medians for these other definitions of income. These medians can be obtained on request.
	The analysis is based on an "equivalised" household disposable income distribution. "Equivalised" household disposable income distribution is a process that adjusts household income to take into account the different size and composition of households.
	Using table 14 in appendix 1 (page 20) from the above analysis, the lower limit of the top decile for household disposable income was £40,385 per year (2004/05). An equivalent figure for household earnings has not been provided as this is only one part of income and would show a large variation of earnings within the top decile (and other deciles).
	This detailed analysis is based on the Expenditure and Food Survey, which has a sample covering approximately 7,000 households in the UK.

Income Tax

Vincent Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many income tax payers had incomes of less than £7,185 per year in the last year for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many upper rate income tax payers had a gross income of less than £50,000 in the last period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: The estimated additional cost of introducing the proposed changes for 2006-07 is in the table.
	
		
			  Cost of the proposed income tax changes, 2006-07 
			   Current regime  Proposed option 
			 Personal allowance (£) 5,035 7,185 
			 Starting rate (percentage) 10 20 
			 Basic rate (percentage)(1) 22 20 
			 Basic rate limit (£) 33,300 42,815 
			 Additional cost (£ billion) — -17.1 
			 (1) The marginal rate on earnings. 
		
	
	The figure excludes any estimate of behavioural response to the tax changes which could be significant given the scale of the changes.
	There are an estimated 2.3 million taxpayers with total income below £7,185 and 1.4 million higher rate taxpayers with total income below £50,000.
	The estimates are based on the 2003-04 Survey of Personal Incomes projected forward to 2006-07 in line with Budget 2006 assumptions.

Israel

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on his recent discussions with Prime Minister Olmert regarding natural gas supplies to Israel.

John Healey: Decisions on natural gas in the area are for commercial negotiation.

Not-for-profit Organisations

David Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proposals he has put forward to reduce VAT liability of not-for-profit institutions working in the field of social care, for  (a) surgical products,  (b) new buildings,  (c) refurbishments to buildings and  (d) other expenditure.

Dawn Primarolo: Charities, including those that provide social care, benefit from VAT relief on the goods and services that they purchase worth some £200 million per year. These reliefs include a zero rate for medical, sterilising and laboratory equipment purchased by charities for use in the course of medical research, diagnosis or treatment.
	VAT is not chargeable on the construction of new buildings used for a relevant charitable purpose, or for the provision of residential care to elderly or disabled people. Similarly, the construction of a hospice for a charity is zero-rated.
	No VAT is chargeable on certain adaptations designed to facilitate entry to, or movement within, certain charitable buildings by a disabled person. This includes the installation of lifts, the installation or adaptation of bathrooms and lavatories and the widening of doorways and passageways. Approved alterations to protected buildings that are used for a relevant charitable or communal residential purpose are also zero-rated.
	A reduced VAT rate of 5 per cent. is also available for the conversion of a non-residential building into a communal residential building, such as a care home, and for the installation of certain energy-saving materials in certain charitable and residential buildings.

Public Service Employment

Martin Horwood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer by how much and what percentage the  (a) number of people employed in and  (b) productivity of Government Departments has changed since 1997.

Stephen Timms: Data on public employment sector employment levels since 1997 can be found in the National Statistics quarterly publication "Public Sector Employment First Release", published on the ONS website. The latest release can be found at the following web address: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/pse0406.pdf. Data on departmental work forces are currently published on the Cabinet Office website. The latest release can be found at the following web address:
	http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/management/statistics/employment/index.asp.
	Data are not held on a measure of the productivity of Government Departments. ONS's UK Centre for the Measurement of Government Activity publishes analyses in a regular series of Public Service Productivity articles which present and discuss estimates of the productivity performance of the key public services. These can be found at:
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/about/data/methodology/specific/PublicSector/output/default.asp.
	At the same time, in the 2004 Spending Review Departments were set challenging targets for achieving annual efficiency gains totalling over £20 billion by March 2008. In the 2006 Budget the Chancellor announced that the Government had achieved provisional annual efficiency gains of £6.4 billion by December 2005, before the first year of the efficiency programme had been completed.

Staff Absenteeism

Danny Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many working days were lost to his Department and its executive agencies in each year since 1997 due to staff absenteeism, expressed as the average annual number of absent days per employee; and what the estimated total cost to the Department and its agencies of absenteeism was in each year.

John Healey: Staff absenteeism recorded as sickness absence, in each year since 1997 is given in the table as the average annual number of days absent per employee. The departments/agencies cannot disaggregate other elements of absenteeism.
	Figures regarding sickness absence are contained in the annual report, "Analysis of Sickness Absence in the Civil Service", published by the Cabinet Office. Reports for each year since 1999 are available in the Library and on the civil service website at:
	http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/management/occupational_health/publications/index.asp.
	Information on the cost of sickness absence could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  Average annual number of sick absence days per employee 
			  Department/Agency  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004 
			 Inland Revenue 11.9 11.0 11.5 10.9 9.5 10.5 10.8 12.2 
			 HM Customs and Excise 8.9 9.4 9.6 9.0 8.7 9 9.2 7.4 
			 Office of Government Commerce (OGC) — — — 10.0 8.4 6.3 3.3 3.2 
			 OGC Buying Solutions — — — — 7.7 5.9 6.4 6.4 
			 National Savings and Investment — — 4.7 8.8 2.2 2.2 2.3 2.5 
			 Valuation Office Agency — — 10.1 9.2 7.0 8.1 7.9 8.6 
			 Royal Mint 5.8 6.2 6.5 5.3 5.8 8.0 6.0 5.4 
			 Government Actuary's Department — 9.3 6.7 6.6 6.9 3.1 5.3 4.5 
			 Debt Management Office — — — — — 3.0 3.7 3.2 
			 Office for National Statistics 9.1 9.6 8.8 8.0 7.9 6.6 6.7 6.8 
			 HM Treasury 4.9 3.9 5.5 3.9 4.7 4.4 5.2 4.1 
			  Notes: 1. OGC was created in 2000 and OGC Buying Solutions, an Executive Agency of OGC, was created in 2001. 2. Royal Mint figures refer to non-industrials only. 3. HM Treasury included the DMO in its sickness absence reporting before 2002. 
		
	
	The information on average working days sickness absence is derived from the annual report "Analysis of Sickness Absence in the Civil Service" published on behalf of the Cabinet Office.

Stamp Duty

Vincent Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  if he will estimate the revenue implications of restructuring stamp duty on residential property sales to charge marginal rates of  (a) 0 per cent. on property sales of £125,000 or less,  (b) 1 per cent. on sales between £125,000 and £249,999,  (c) 5 per cent. on sales between £250,000 and £499,999 and  (d) 5 per cent. on sales of £500,000 and above; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  if he will estimate the revenue implications of restructuring stamp duty on residential property sales to charge marginal rates of  (a) 0 per cent. on property sales of £125,000 or less,  (b) 1 per cent. on sales between £125,000 and £249,999,  (c) 5 per cent. on sales between £250,000 and £499,999 and  (d) 6 per cent. on sales of £500,000 and above;
	(3)  if he will estimate the revenue implications of restructuring stamp duty on residential property sales to charge marginal rates of  (a) 0 per cent. on property sales of £150,000 or less,  (b) 2 per cent. on sales between £150,000 and £249,999,  (c) 5 per cent. on sales between £250,000 and £499,999 and  (d) (i) 5 and (ii) 6 per cent. on sales of £500,000 and above;
	(4)  if he will estimate the revenue implications of restructuring stamp duty on residential property sales to charge marginal rates of  (a) 0 per cent. on property sales of £125,000 or less,  (b) 2 per cent. on sales between £125,000 and £249,999,  (c) 5 per cent. on sales between £250,000 and £499,999 and  (d) 5 per cent. on sales of £500,000 and above;
	(5)  if he will estimate the revenue implications of restructuring stamp duty on residential property sales to charge marginal rates of  (a) 0 per cent. on property sales of £150,000 or less,  (b) 1 per cent. on sales between £150,000 and £249,999,  (c) 5 per cent. on sales between £250,000 and £499,999 and  (d) (i) 5 and (ii) 6 per cent. on sales of £500,000 and above.

Edward Balls: The estimated revenue cost, in 2007-08, of restructuring stamp duty on residential property sales according to the seven marginal rate schemes (where each rate only applies to consideration above the threshold for each range) described in the question is given in the following tables:
	
		
			  Percentage rate  Tax regime 1 thresholds 
			 0 £0-124,999 
			 1 £125,000-249,999 
			 5 £250,000-499,999 
			 5 £500,001 and above 
			 Revenue cost (£ billion) 2.4 
		
	
	
		
			  Percentage rate  Tax regime 2 thresholds 
			 0 £0-124,999 
			 1 £125,000-249,999 
			 5 £250,000-499,999 
			 6 £500,001 and above 
			 Revenue cost (£ billion) 2.2 
		
	
	
		
			  Percentage rate  Tax regime 3 thresholds 
			 0 £0-149,999 
			 2 £150,000-249,999 
			 5 £250,000-499,999 
			 5 £500,001 and above 
			 Revenue cost (£ billion) 2.1 
		
	
	
		
			  Percentage rate  Tax regime 4 thresholds 
			 0 £0-149,999 
			 2 £150,000-249,999 
			 5 £250,000-499,999 
			 6 £500,001 and above 
			 Revenue cost (£ billion) 1.8 
		
	
	
		
			  Percentage rate  Tax regime 5 thresholds 
			 0 £0-124,999 
			 2 £125,000-249,999 
			 5 £250,000-499,999 
			 5 £500,001 and above 
			 Revenue cost (£ billion) 1.6 
		
	
	
		
			  Percentage rate  Tax regime 6 thresholds 
			 0 £0-149,999 
			 1 £150,000-249,999 
			 5 £250,000-499,999 
			 5 £500,001 and above 
			 Revenue cost (£ billion) 2.7 
		
	
	
		
			  Percentage rate  Tax regime7thresholds 
			 0 £0-149,999 
			 1 £150,000-249,999 
			 5 £250,000-499,999 
			 6 £500,001 and above 
			 Revenue cost (£ billion) 2.4 
		
	
	These figures do not include any allowance for behavioural changes.

Tax Credits

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many bonus payments were made to staff at the tax credits office in each year from 2003-04; what the value was in each year; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what bonuses have been paid to managers in the tax credits department since 1 April 2005; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 12 December 2005,  Official Report, columns 1792-93W. Information is not available relating to managers.

Widows (Financial Support)

Iris Robinson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps the Government plan to take to improve the financial position of widows in their late 50s and 60s who rely on half of their deceased husbands' pension as their main income.

James Purnell: I have been asked to reply.
	Our proposals, published in the White Paper, Security in retirement: towards a new pensions system (Cm6841), are a bold blueprint for reform, which include delivering fair outcomes for women and continuing to target resources on those most in need.
	We intend to continue to uprate the pension credit standard guarantee in line with earnings over the long-term, securing pensioners, including widows, against poverty.
	The White Paper also sets out our commitment to strengthen retirement incomes for all pensioners by linking the uprating of basic state pension to average earnings. A widow, who claims a state pension based on her husband's national insurance record, will benefit from this proposed uprating strategy.
	In addition, our intention is that the proposed new crediting arrangements for carers from 2010, including the replacement of home responsibilities protection with a weekly credit and the introduction of a new carer's credit, would also apply to bereavement benefits.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Fire Service

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many malicious false fire alarm calls were attended by the fire and rescue service in  (a) Southend,  (b) Essex,  (c) Hertfordshire and  (d) England and Wales in each year since 1995.

Angela Smith: The available information covers items  (b),  (c) and  (d) of the question.
	Information for Southend is not available centrally.
	
		
			  Malicious false fire alarm calls attended by fire and rescue services 1995-2004 
			   Essex  Hertfordshire  England and Wales 
			 1995 1,923 1,011 102,730 
			 1996 1,684 660 99,308 
			 1997 1,922 714 88,813 
			 1998 1,607 531 74,200 
			 1999 1,655 508 70,446 
			 2000 1,717 578 63,842 
			 2001 2,009 686 63,371 
			 2002 2,112 646 55,388 
			 2003 1,600 438 48,685 
			 2004 1,485 234 41,017 
			  Note:  Excludes any malicious false fire alarm calls in November 2002 and January-February 2003 strike periods   Source:  Fire and Rescue Service returns to DCLG

Housing

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many new houses have been built in each constituency since 1 May 1997.

Yvette Cooper: Information on new houses built is available by local authority area and not constituency. Figures are as reported by local authority and the national house building council. Published information is available for 2002-03 to 2004-05 on the DCLG website:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/pub/66/Table253Excel860Kb _id 1156066.xls

Housing

Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether she plans to introduce a decent homes programme in the private rented sector; and if she will make a statement.

Yvette Cooper: As part of the public service agreement with Treasury (PSA7) my Department already has a target to increase the percentage of vulnerable households in the private sector who live in decent homes. The target is to increase this percentage to 70 per cent. by 2010 and we are ahead of trajectory to achieve this. This target includes households in the private rented sector.
	In order to meet this target local authorities have a wide range of powers to improve housing conditions in the private rented sector, in particular the Housing Health and Safety Rating system and the licensing system for high risk houses in multiple occupation introduced by the Housing Act 2004.

IT

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the  (a) originally estimated,  (b) most recently estimated and  (c) outturn cost was in each of the five largest information technology contracts agreed by her Department with outside suppliers over the last five years.

Angela Smith: The Department for Communities and Local Government was formed in May 2006, (previously the ODPM was formed in May 2002). The five largest information technology contracts agreed with outside suppliers over the last five years are as follows.
	
		
			  1. Contract for: Data Network Management and Support Services 
			   £ million 
			  (a) Original estimate 28 
			  (b) Recent estimate 28 
			  (c) Outturn cost (1)n/a 
			 (1) Contract completes in 2011. 
		
	
	
		
			  2. Contract for: GASPS 3 (Logasnet)—Grants Authorisation System 
			   £ million 
			  (a) Original estimate (1)3.018 
			  (b) Recent estimate (1)3.018 
			  (c) Outturn cost (2)2.516 
			 (1) To deliver system  (2) System delivered. Full outturn costs including annual support and hosting charges n/a as contract completes in 2007 or 2009 depending on whether a two year extension option is exercised. 
		
	
	
		
			  3. Contract for: Supporting People Local Interim System 
			   £ million 
			  (a) Original estimate 3.6 
			  (b) Recent estimate (1)4.6 
			  (c) Outturn cost 4.5 
			 (1 )Contract complete 
		
	
	
		
			  4. Contract for: Maps on Tap Project (phase 1, to end 2005-06) 
			   £ million 
			  (a) Original estimate 2.42 
			  (b) Recent estimate 2.4 
			  (c) Outturn cost (1)— 
			 (1) Framework contract ends in 2008. Phased development, with phase 1 complete and phase 2 planned. Specification and hence cost of phase 2 to be agreed. Figures provided for original and recent estimates are for infrastructure purchase and phase 1 development only. 
		
	
	
		
			  5. Contract for: Transactional ERDF and State Aid system (TESA) 
			   £ million 
			  (a) Original estimate 1.5 
			  (b) Recent estimate 1.43 
			  (c) Outturn cost (1)n/a 
			 (1) Contract ends in June 2007

Neighbourhood Management/Renewal Schemes

James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the value for money of neighbourhood management schemes.

Yvette Cooper: The neighbourhood management pathfinder programme is subject to a comprehensive national evaluation. The most recent report (Neighbourhood Renewal Unit Research Report 23) stated that neighbourhood management is capable of delivering better outcomes for deprived areas, and is a valuable tool that deserves to be developed and adopted more widely. Planned future research will address more directly the costs and benefits of the programme, though it should be noted that quantifying the impact of neighbourhood management is made harder because it works by influencing existing service providers rather than delivering and funding new services and projects directly.

Neighbourhood Management/Renewal Schemes

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much funding has been provided by the Government for Neighbourhood Renewal projects in the constituency of Bristol, East since the scheme's inception.

Phil Woolas: Over £34,149,397 of Neighbourhood Renewal funding has been spent in the Bristol, East constituency between 1 April 2000 and 31 March 2006.
	This is made up of:
	
		
			  Funding stream  Area  Amount (£) 
			 New Deal for Communities Barton Hill 30,975,000 
			 Neighbourhood Renewal Fund Easton and Lawrence Hill 2,866,589 
			 Neighbourhood Renewal Fund Barton Hill 148,444 
			 Community Chest/Community Learning Chest Easton and Lawrence Hill 123,214 
			 Community Chest/Community Learning Chest Barton Hill 36,150 
			 Total NR Funding Bristol, East 34,149,397 
		
	
	The Neighbourhood Renewal Fund allocation above only includes the funding spent on direct neighbourhood projects. In addition to this the area has benefited substantially from city-wide projects, including the £1.35 million city-wide education allocation in 2004-06 and from the £1,036,955 spent on projects working with equalities groups over 2001-06. Funding from the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund has also provided a neighbourhood-based team for the area since 2001.
	 Future Neighbourhood Renewal Funding
	£17,105,237 has been allocated for the area from 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2008. This is made up of £15,277,000 New Deal for Communities Funding and £1,828,237 Neighbourhood Renewal Fund.

Planning

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much the Government have allocated to the  (a) Ashford and  (b) Milton Keynes growth areas for infrastructure development for each of the next 10 years.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 16 June 2006
	The Ashford growth area has been allocated a total of £5.72 million in 2006-07 and £15.29 million in 2007-08 from the Growth Areas Fund. The Milton Keynes/South Midlands growth area has been allocated a total of £66.07 million in 2006-07 and £62.83 million in 2007-08 from the Growth Areas Fund. In addition, the Milton Keynes/South Midlands growth area has also been allocated a total of £96.8 million across these two years from the Community Infrastructure Fund. The split between 2006-07 and 2007-08 has yet to be decided. This funding is in addition to infrastructure funding from other Government Departments, for example for schools, healthcare facilities and transport.
	No allocations have been made beyond 2007-08, as budgets cannot be set beyond the Government's Spending Review horizon.

Second Homes

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the  (a) number and  (b) proportion of second homes in each region.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 28 June 2006
	The number of second homes and the number of second homes as a proportion of the housing stock in each region in England are shown in the following table. The data are from a snapshot taken in October 2005, as recorded on CTB1 forms submitted by each local authority for council tax purposes.
	
		
			   Number of second homes  Second homes as a percentage of total number of dwellings 
			 North East 7,188 0.6 
			 North West 18,295 0.6 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 16,267 0.7 
			 East Midlands 9,968 0.5 
			 West Midlands 14,774 0.6 
			 East of England 28,181 1.2 
			 London 49,820 1.6 
			 South East 41,588 1.2 
			 South West 50,250 2.2 
			 Total 236,331 1.1

Second Homes

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many properties are  (a) designated as second homes and eligible for a council tax discount and  (b) claiming such a discount in (i) the Lewes district council and (ii) Wealdon district council area.

Phil Woolas: There are 446 properties in the Lewes district council area and 956 properties in the Wealden district council area designated as second homes and claiming a discount in council tax as at 19 September 2005, the latest date for which figures are available.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Academic Selection

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the estimated cost is of abolishing academic selection in Northern Ireland.

Maria Eagle: The abolition of academic selection is one element of a whole package of reforms of post-primary education. The focus of the new arrangements is on the educational needs of the child. The new arrangements will be implemented locally by schools and school managing authorities working together, taking account of local needs and circumstances. Until local arrangements are developed, the financial implications cannot be assessed. £24.7 million has been made available over the period 2005-06 to 2007-08 to support the preparation for and phased introduction of, key elements of the new post-primary arrangements.

Breast Cancer

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for women undergoing predictive genetic testing for breast cancer; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Goggins: Predictive genetic testing for breast cancer is available to women at the regional Genetics Centre at Belfast City hospital. I have been advised that predictive genetic tests for breast cancer are treated as a high priority and are generally reported within four to six weeks. There is no significant waiting list for this service.

Breast Cancer

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many families in Northern Ireland have been tested for the CDH 1gene; and how many patients have opted for pre-emptive surgery in each board area as a result of the test in each of the last three years.

Paul Goggins: The CDH1 (E-Cadherin) mutation is associated with familial diffuse gastric cancer. Approximately 10 to 15 families in Northern Ireland have been tested for the CDH1 mutation. None has tested positive consequently. There has been no pre-emptive surgery performed in Northern Ireland for this disease.

Call Centres

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many call centre jobs there are in Northern Ireland; how many there were three years ago; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Goggins: Invest NI figures from a survey of customer contact centres in Northern Ireland conducted in May 2006 show that there are currently over 10,500 employed in the sector. Three years ago the number employed was around 8,000.
	The customer contact sector in Northern Ireland has been developed largely by inward investment but also contains a number of locally owned companies trading in international markets. It remains a key target sector for Invest NI.

Cocaine

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people in each health and social services board area (HSSB) are known to be cocaine users; and what working estimate of the total number of cocaine users each HSSB has.

Paul Goggins: The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS) records information on problem drug users presenting to treatment services for the first time, or for the first time in six months or more. The number of people presenting to treatment services in 2004-05 (the latest year for which figures are available) where they reported cocaine (including crack cocaine) use, by health and social services board, is recorded as:
	
		
			  Health and social services board  Number 
			 Eastern 138 
			 Northern 56 
			 Southern 53 
			 Western 75 
			 Northern Ireland(1) 369 
			 (1 )Includes 47 people from Northern Ireland prisons who have reported using cocaine at some stage.   Source:  NI Drug Misuse Database. 
		
	
	The DHSSPS report entitled '2002-03 Drug Prevalence Survey: Cocaine Results' reported lifetime prevalence figures for cocaine (those who reported that they had ever used cocaine, including crack cocaine) use in Northern Ireland. Lifetime Prevalence figures, for adults aged 15 to 64 years, for each of the four health and social services boards in Northern Ireland were reported as:
	
		
			  Health and social services board  Percentage of lifetime prevalence 
			 Eastern 2.4 
			 Northern 1.0 
			 Southern 0.8 
			 Western 1.6

Consultant Referrals

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average waiting time to be seen by a consultant was for people in Northern Ireland in 2005-06, broken down by clinical conditions.

Paul Goggins: Official waiting list information is collected by time band. It is therefore not possible to calculate the average (arithmetic mean) and longest waiting time. It is however possible to identify the median or mid point waiting time band.
	The latest available waiting list statistics show the position at 31 March 2006. It is not possible to provide waiting lists by clinical conditions as waiting list information is aggregated by specialty. The median waiting time band for patients waiting for their first outpatient consultant appointment at 31 March 2006 for each individual specialty is provided in the following table.
	
		
			  Specialty  Median waiting time for first outpatient consultant appointment at 31 March 2006 (months) 
			 General Surgery 0-2 
			 Urology 3-5 
			 T and O Surgery 9-11 
			 ENT 3-5 
			 Ophthalmology 3-5 
			 Oral Surgery 6-8 
			 Restorative Dentistry 9-11 
			 Paediatric Dentistry 12-14 
			 Orthodontics 3-5 
			 Neurosurgery 6-8 
			 Plastic Surgery 21-23 
			 Cardiac Surgery 0-2 
			 Paediatric Surgery 3-5 
			 Thoracic Surgery 0-2 
			 Accident and Emergency 0-2 
			 Anaesthetics 0-2 
			 Pain Management 6-8 
			 General Medicine 3-5 
			 Gastroenterology 3-5 
			 Endocrinology 0-2 
			 Haematology ( Clinical) 0-2 
			 Audiological Medicine 0-2 
			 Clinical Genetics 0-2 
			 Rehabilitation 0-2 
			 Palliative Medicine 0-2 
			 Cardiology 3-5 
			 Dermatology 3-5 
			 Thoracic Medicine 0-2 
			 Genito-Urinary Medicine 0-2 
			 Nephrology 3-5 
			 Medical Oncology 0-2 
			 Neurology 3-5 
			 Rheumatology 3-5 
			 Paediatrics 0-2 
			 Paediatric Neurology 0-2 
			 Geriatric Medicine 0-2 
			 Dental Medicine Specialties 9-11 
			 Obstetrics 0-2 
			 Gynaecology 0-2 
			 GP Other 0-2 
			 Mental Handicap 3-5 
			 Mental Illness 0-2 
			 Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 0-2 
			 Psychotherapy 3-5 
			 Old Age Psychiatry 0-2 
			 Clinical Oncology 0-2 
			 Chemical Pathology 0-2 
			 Haematology 0-2 
			 Joint Consultant Clinics 0-2 
			 All Specialties 3-5 
			  Source:  Departmental Information Return CH3 Parts 1 and 2

Deafblind Children (Goverment Guidance)

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will implement in Northern Ireland the Government guidance entitled Social Care for Deafblind Children and Adults; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Goggins: The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety is currently developing a strategic framework for services for people with a sensory or physical disability. It will consider the application of this guidance as part of the strategy development process.

Depression

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people have been diagnosed with depression in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years; and how many people diagnosed were given access to cognitive behaviour therapy.

Paul Goggins: The information requested is not available.

Donor Cards

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people in Northern Ireland have signed up to carrying donor cards since 1999; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Goggins: It is impossible to know how many people in Northern Ireland carry donor cards. However, the following figures show the number of people in Northern Ireland who have registered with the NHS organ donor register.
	
		
			   Total Northern Ireland registrations 
			 Pre-1999 136,262 
			 1999 to date 198,801 
			 On NHS organ donor register 335,063

Education

David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland why special schools in Northern Ireland are not permitted to move to integrated status.

Maria Eagle: Article 90 (2) of the Education (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 as amended by the Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order 1993 and the Education (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 prohibits special schools from attaining controlled integrated status. While it is accepted that most special schools have both Protestant and Roman Catholic children, integrated status is not appropriate for the special school sector, where developmental needs are necessarily assessed on the basis of specialised criteria, related to the individual special educational needs of the child.

Education

David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many schools in Northern Ireland, apart from integrated schools, have 10 per cent. or more of the minority tradition enrolled; and what the figures were in each of the preceding 10 years.

Maria Eagle: The requested information is as follows.
	
		
			  Number of schools 
			   Nursery  Primary  Post primary  Special 
			 1995-96 22 26 17 n/a 
			 1996-97 26 29 18 n/a 
			 1997-98 25 31 19 n/a 
			 1998-99 21 28 16 n/a 
			 1999-2000 23 23 15 n/a 
			 2000-01 21 28 16 n/a 
			 2001-02 23 28 16 n/a 
			 2002-03 20 29 12 n/a 
			 2003-04 23 25 14 34 
			 2004-05 25 27 14 24 
			 2005-06 25 25 12 28 
			  Note:  The answer is based on those schools with over 50 per cent. Protestant pupils and 10 per cent. or more Catholic pupils, and those schools with over 50 per cent. Catholic pupils and 10 per cent. or more Protestant pupils.   Source:  NI school census

Home Helps

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to review the working practices of home help and domestic care workers for elderly and infirm people in Northern Ireland, with special reference to Health and Safety restrictions.

Paul Goggins: There are at present no plans to review the working practices of home help and domestic care workers for elderly and infirm people in Northern Ireland. However, the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety is currently developing regulations and minimum care standards for domiciliary care agencies. These standards will specify minimum supervision and appraisal requirements, mandatory training requirements and safe and healthy working practices. These new regulations and standards are expected to come into effect on 1 April 2007 and will form the basis for inspections carried out by the Regulatory and Quality Improvement Authority.

House Fires

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many house fires the Fire Service in Northern Ireland was called out to deal with where there was  (a) no and  (b) a faulty smoke alarm fitted during 2005.

Paul Goggins: In the period January 2005 to December 2005 there were 203 cases of house fires where a smoke alarm was not fitted and 152 cases where the smoke alarm was faulty.

Invest Northern Ireland

Jeffrey M Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what land holdings are held by Invest Northern Ireland in each district council in Northern Ireland.

Paul Goggins: The amount of land held by Invest Northern Ireland in each of the 26 district councils in Northern Ireland is set out in the following table. It amounts to 2,803 acres (1,134 hectares).
	
		
			  Council area  Acres  Hectares 
			 Antrim 110 45 
			 Ards 31 13 
			 Armagh 33 13 
			 Ballymena 81 33 
			 Ballymoney 13 5 
			 Banbridge 27 11 
			 Belfast 139 56 
			 Carrickfergus 108 44 
			 Castlereagh 13 5 
			 Coleraine 74 30 
			 Cookstown 38 16 
			 Craigavon 360 146 
			 Derry 419 170 
			 Down 134 54 
			 Dungannon 93 38 
			 Fermanagh 126 51 
			 Lame 36 14 
			 Limavady 51 21 
			 Lisburn 313 127 
			 Magherafelt 72 29 
			 Moyle 6 2 
			 Newry and Mourne 100 41 
			 Newtownabbey 283 115 
			 North Down 63 25 
			 Omagh 47 19 
			 Strabane 29 12 
			 Total (1)2,803 (1)1,134 
			 (1 )Figures do not add precisely due to founding

Lung Cancer

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many cases of lung cancer have been diagnosed in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years.

Paul Goggins: Table 1 details information on the incidence of lung cancer (ICD-10 C33 and C34) in Northern Ireland for the last five years for which data was available.
	
		
			  Table 1: Lung cancer incidence in Northern Ireland: 1999 to 2003 
			   1999  2000  2001  2002  2003 
			 Male 520 520 569 505 508 
			 Female 360 344 316 364 337 
			 Total 880 864 885 869 845 
		
	
	This information has been provided by the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry and is the most up to date currently available.

Medical Training

Alasdair McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many medical students who are studying in Northern Ireland will  (a) be unable to continue their studies and  (b) be unable to take up positions of employment in Northern Ireland as a result of the new visa regulations pertaining to international medical students; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Goggins: The information is as follows.
	 (a) All overseas medical students will be able to continue their medical studies, as training up to registration with the General Medical Council (GMC) is not affected by the new immigration rules.
	 (b) Non-European economic area (EEA) doctors already in training posts will now be considered as being employed rather than in training, and therefore will need to meet the work permit provisions. Transitional arrangements are in place for those who have been offered a post starting on or before 4 August 2006.
	The new immigration rules introduced by the Home Office that came into effect on 3 April 2006 will not prevent doctors from training in the United Kingdom, but are designed to bring the employment of doctors into line with other sectors of the UK economy.

Medical Training

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many  (a) nurse and  (b) doctor training places were available in Northern Ireland in each of the last 10 years; how many people entered training in each year; and how many people qualified in each year.

Paul Goggins: The number of  (a) nurses and  (b) doctors who commenced training and completed training in each of the last 10 years is presented in the following tables. All available training places have been filled in each of the 10 years.
	
		
			  Table (a1): Number of pre-registration nursing students who commenced training in each of the last 10 years 
			  Academic year  Number commencing training 
			 2005-06 815 
			 2004-05 851 
			 2003-04 811 
			 2002-03 763 
			 2001-02 643 
			 2000-01 484 
			 1999-2000 482 
			 1998-99 460 
			 1997-98 460 
			 1996-97 341 
		
	
	
		
			  Table (a2): Number of pre-registration nursing students who completed training in each of the last 10 years 
			  Academic year  Number qualifying 
			 2005-06 (1)n/a 
			 2004-05 662 
			 2003-04 571 
			 2002-03 471 
			 2001-02 410 
			 2000-01 378 
			 1999-2000 303 
			 1998-99 424 
			 1997-98 376 
			 1996-97 (2)30 
			 (1 )The completing figures for academic year 2005-06 are not yet available.  (2 )Students completed training via the five colleges of nursing for 1996-97.   Note:  University of Ulster completed the above number.   Source:  Queens University Belfast, University of Ulster and Open University 
		
	
	The following table shows the number of medical places available in the period requested.
	
		
			  Table (b1): Queen's University Belfast (Home and EU) undergraduate medical students/places 
			  Academic year  Number of places/students 
			 2005-06 250 
			 2004-05 188 
			 2003-04 169 
			 2002-03 170 
			 2001-02 169 
			 2000-01 161 
			 1999-2000 160 
			 1998-99 154 
			 1997-98 169 
			 1996-97 152 
		
	
	The numbers of medical students qualifying in each year is set out in the following table.
	
		
			  Table (b2): Queen's Home and EU medical graduates 
			  Academic year  Number of students 
			 2005-06 (1)n/a 
			 2004-05 148 
			 2003-04 162 
			 2002-03 151 
			 2001-02 169 
			 2000-01 139 
			 1999-2000 141 
			 1998-99 149 
			 1997-98 135 
			 1996-97 137 
			 (1 )The figures for 2005-06 will not be available until mid-July.

MS Treatment

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average waiting time is for multiple sclerosis patients in the Western Health and Social Services Board (WHSSB) area to be added to the waiting list to receive disease-modifying therapy (DMT) treatment; what the average waiting time is for MS patients in the WHSSB area who are on the waiting list to begin DMT treatment; and what the target time is in each case.

Paul Goggins: Patients with MS who are assessed as eligible to receive treatment with disease modifying therapies are placed on the waiting list following assessment by, and in consultation with, their neurologist. There is no waiting period to be added to the list.
	Waiting list information for disease modifying therapies is collected by time band. While these cannot be used to calculate the average length of time waiting, it is possible to identify the median or mid-point waiting time band. The median waiting time band for MS patients in the Western Board area at 30 April 2006 was six to eight months. An additional £2 million has been allocated to Health and Social Services Boards in 2006-07 and 2007-08 which will, by March 2008, allow all those who are currently waiting for disease modifying therapies to start their treatment and ensure that new patients who are eligible for treatment do not face long waits.

MS Treatment

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many new multiple sclerosis patients in the Western Health and Social Services Board (WHSSB) area have begun receiving disease-modifying therapy in the last three months; how many additional MS patients in the WHSSB area have been placed on the waiting list to receive DMT treatment in the last three months; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Goggins: In the three month period from 1 March 2006 to 31 May 2006, two multiple sclerosis patients from the Western Health and Social Services Board area started treatment with disease modifying therapies. Over the same period, two Western Board patients were added to the waiting list.

Respite Care Charges

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the financial impact on families of respite care charges for adults with learning disabilities; and what plans he has to review the making of such charges.

Paul Goggins: The need for respite care and any associated charge is a matter for assessment on a case by case basis. There are currently no plans to review the charging arrangements.

School Transport

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many taxis are being used to transport children to school in each education and library board area; and at what cost.

Maria Eagle: In 2004-05 the education and library boards used 1,393 taxis to transport pupils to and from school, at a total cost of £8,012,000, broken down in the following table.
	
		
			   Number of taxis  Cost (£) 
			 Belfast board 195 633,000 
			 North-Eastern board 259 2,095,000 
			 South-Eastern board 298 2,216,000 
			 Southern board 335 2,022,000 
			 Western board 306 1,046,000 
		
	
	Education and library boards only transport pupils via taxi where an existing bus service is not available and it is more cost effective to provide a taxi rather than introduce a new route. In addition, pupils with a statement of special needs may have specialised transport requirements that can only be met through the provision of a taxi. Medical experts make this decision and the requirement to provide transport via taxi is detailed on the pupil's statement of special needs.

School Transport

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many children have  (a) been injured and  (b) reported attacks by other children in shared taxis in the last two years, broken down by education and library board.

Maria Eagle: Four of the five education and library boards have confirmed that there have been no children reported injured by other children while travelling to and from school in shared taxis in the last two years. The Southern education and library board has also confirmed that there have been no serious injuries to children during this period but is not able to provide details of minor incidents.

Schools

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many schools in Northern Ireland which are currently open he expects to have closed by the end of 2007.

Maria Eagle: Proposals to close a school are subject to the publication of a development proposal, which ensures that all interested parties are informed, and have the opportunity to comment, before a decision is made.
	The Department has approved the closure of seven primary schools, six of which are due to close in August 2006 and one to close in August 2007. The Department has also approved the closure of one post-primary school to take effect in August 2006.
	There are currently four other recently published development proposals each for the closure of a primary school, with three proposed to take effect in August 2006 and one in August 2007, on which decisions have not yet been made. There are also two recently published development proposals for the closure of two post-primary schools in August 2007, on which decisions have not yet been made.
	In addition, the Department has previously approved the amalgamations of 12 primary schools into four schools—these are all planned to take effect before the end of 2007, and approved a further proposal to support the amalgamation of two post-primary schools to form one school with effect from September 2006. Two Development proposals each for the amalgamation of two primary schools to form one school have recently been published and currently under consideration.

Security Checks

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what security checks are carried out on workers subcontracted to carry out work on school premises, including cleaners and maintenance workers.

Maria Eagle: It is the responsibility of those contracted by the education and libraries board or other employing authorities, to provide services on school premises, to ensure that their staff pose no risk to children by carrying out a vetting check.
	The employing authority must, at the tender stage, make it clear to private contractors that vetting must be carried out on employees before any work is undertaken on school premises.
	The arrangements for the vetting and selection of persons to work with children in an educational setting were the subject of an urgent review early in 2006 and new guidance covering all aspects was issued to employing authorities, among others, in March in circular 2006/06, Child Protection: Recruitment of People to work with Children and Young People in Educational Settings (available at www.deni.gov.uk)

Seroxat

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the safety of Seroxat for pregnant women suffering from depression; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Goggins: On 7 December 2005 the Chief Medical Officer issued an urgent communication to the Health and Social Services in Northern Ireland attaching a letter from the Commission on Human Medicines (CHM) which highlighted new evidence relating to a possible risk of congenital malformations following maternal use of Paroxetine (Seroxat) in the first trimester. The CHM letter contained advice to prescribers and patients on the use of Paroxetine (Seroxat) in pregnancy. The advice indicated that Paroxetine should only be used in pregnancy when strictly indicated and only if the benefits of treatment for the mother are thought to outweigh the potential risk to the foetus.
	There is ongoing discussion at a European level on the safety of all selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), including Paroxetine (Seroxat) in pregnancy. Any new advice will be issued as necessary.

Vandalism

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the cost was to the Department of Education of vandalism at educational establishments in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Eagle: The cost of repairing vandalism met by each education and library board in controlled and maintained schools in the last three years is as follows:
	
		
			   £000 
			 2003-04 831 
			 2004-05 639 
			 2005-06 679 
		
	
	The information for voluntary grammar and grant maintained integrated schools is not readily available and is being requested. I will write to the hon. Lady with the information as soon as possible.

HEALTH

Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health who the members are of the Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation.

Andy Burnham: The Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation (ACRA) is an independent body consisting of national health service management, general practitioners and academics.
	ACRA members are shown in the table.
	
		
			  ACRA membership as of September 2005 
			   Organisation 
			  Chair  
			 Mr. D. Fillingham Chief Executive, Bolton Hospital NHS Trust Members 
			   
			  Members  
			 Mr. K. Derbyshire Department of Health, Senior Economic Advisor 
			 Professor I. Diamond Chief Executive, Economic and Social Research Council 
			 Mr. F. Dickinson Department of Health, Economic Advisor 
			 Dr. S. Drage General Practitioners Committee, BMA 
			 Dr. M. D'Souza Head of the Unit of General Practice, NH and LI Imperial College, Surrey 
			 Professor H. Glennerster Professor Emeritus of Social Administration and Co-Director of CASE, London School of Economics 
			 Dr. R. Hussey Director of Health Strategy, Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority 
			 Professor Sir B. Jarman Emeritus Professor of the Department of General Practice, Imperial College of Medicine 
			 Mr. P. Lilley Chief Executive, Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 
			 Ms R. MacDonald Chief Executive, Bath and North Somerset Primary Care Trust 
			 Mrs. Candy Morris Chief Executive, Surrey and Sussex SHA 
			 Dr. N. Rice Reader, University of York 
			 Mr. D. Roberts Unit Manager, NHS, Health and Social Care Information Centre 
			 Dr. I. Trimble General Practitioner, Nottingham 
			 Mr. C. Vincent Department of Health, Finance

Audiology Services

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make it her policy to review the decision to exclude audiology from the 18-week waiting time target for treatment.

Ivan Lewis: The 18-week referral to treatment target covers hospital pathways.
	As a result of innovation, the majority of audiology and adult hearing services are accessed directly from primary care and are outside the scope of the 18-week pathway. However, hearing and balance conditions that do need to be referred to a medical consultant will be subject to 18 weeks.
	There is no intention to reconsider or review this principle. However, reducing the time that patients wait for directly accessed services is important and an action plan is being developed to improve access to audiology services outside the 18-week pathway.

Audiology Services

Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average waiting times are from GP referral to final fitting of digital hearing aids for  (a) new patients and  (b) existing patients with an analogue hearing aid in the Solihull Primary Care Trust area.

Ivan Lewis: The Department does not collect waiting time data for hearing aid/audiology services. However, since January 2006 we have been collecting waiting time and activity data for 15 diagnostic tests/procedures, including pure tone audiometry. These data have been shared with the national health service, for performance management purposes since 2 June 2006. These data will be routinely published from July 2006.

Audit Commission Act

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many reports under  (a) section 19 and  (b) section 8 of the Audit Commission Act 1998 she has received in each year since the provisions were implemented.

Andy Burnham: Section 8 of the Act requires auditors in auditing the accounts to consider whether, in the public interest, they should report on any matter coming to their notice in the course of the audit, in order for it to be considered by the body concerned or brought to the attention of the public. The auditor can issue an immediate report if the public interest requires it, or can issue a report at the conclusion of the audit.
	Section 19 of the Audit Commission Act 1998 requires an appointed auditor to refer matters to the Secretary of State if he/she has reason to believe that a national health service organisation has made a decision which involves, or may involve, unlawful expenditure, known as referrals to the Secretary of State. These reports are not published.
	The number of reports and referrals made under sections 8 and 19 of the Audit Commission Act 1998 are shown in the table.
	
		
			  Number 
			   Section 8 reports  Section 19 referrals  Qualifications on accounts section 19 referrals( 1) 
			 1998 2 1 0 
			 1999 1 3 0 
			 2000 0 1 0 
			 2001 0 3 0 
			 2002 1 1 0 
			 2003 2 0 0 
			 2004 2 2 53 
			 2005 23 7 93 
			 2006(2) 16 20 n/a 
			 n/a = not available  (1) Introduced from April 2000. The section 19 referrals issued to these NHS organisations took the form of regularity reports on the 2004-05 and did not constitute a full report to the Secretary of State.  (2) To date.

Audit Commission Act

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  pursuant to her answer of 21 June 2006,  Official Report, column 1943W, on the Audit Commission Act, how many and which section 19 reports were the result of  (a) the organisation breaking its resource allocation limits,  (b) the organisation having little prospect of achieving balance within a three or five year period,  (c) suspicious payments,  (d) fraud and  (e) and other reasons;
	(2)  pursuant to her answer of 21 June 2006,  Official Report, column 1943W, on the Audit Commission Act, what the dates are of each report.

Andy Burnham: Section 19 of the Audit Commission Act 1998 requires an appointed auditor to refer matters to the Secretary of State if he/she has reason to believe that a national health service organisation has made a decision which involves, or may involve, unlawful expenditure, known as referrals to the Secretary of State. These reports are not published.
	Auditors made the following referrals, on the dates shown, under section 19 for:
	 The organisation breaking its resource allocation limits
	Bedfordshire Heartlands Primary Care Trust (PCT)(1)
	Bexley Care Trust PCT(1)
	Billericay, Brentwood and Wickford PCT(1)
	Blackwater Valley and Hart PCT(1)
	Broadland PCT(1)
	Burntwood, Lichfield and Tamworth PCT(1)
	Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire PCTs (December 2005)
	Cambridge City PCT(1)
	Cannock Chase PCT(1)
	Canterbury and Coastal PCT(1)
	Central Cornwall PCT(1)
	Central Suffolk PCT (February 2006)
	Central Suffolk PCT(1)
	Charnwood and North West Leicestershire PCT(1)
	Chelmsford PCT(1)
	Cherwell Vale PCT(1)
	Cheshire West PCT (February 2006)
	Cheshire West PCT(1)
	Chiltern and South Bucks PCT(1)
	Colchester PCT(1)
	Cotswold and Vale PCT(1)
	Dacorum PCT (April 2006)
	Dacorum PCT(1)
	Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley PCT(1)
	E Elmbridge and Mid Surrey PCT(1)
	East Hampshire PCT(1)
	East Lincolnshire PCT(1)
	Eastbourne Downs PCT(1)
	Eastleigh and Test Valley PCT(1)
	Fareham and Gosport PCT(1)
	Guildford and Waverley PCT(1)
	Harrow PCT(1)
	Havering PCT(1)
	Hertsmere PCT (April 2006)
	Hertsmere PCT(1)
	Hillingdon PCT(1)
	Hounslow PCT(1)
	Huntingdonshire PCT(1)
	Ipswich PCT(1)
	Isle of Wight PCT(1)
	Kennet and North Wiltshire PCT(1)
	Kensington and Chelsea PCT(1)
	Kingston PCT(1)
	Leicester City West PCT(1)
	Luton PCT(1)
	Maidstone Weald PCT(1)
	Maldon and South Chelmsford PCT(1)
	Medway PCT(1)
	Mid Hampshire PCT(1)
	Milton Keynes PCT(1)
	North East Oxfordshire PCT(1)
	North Hertfordshire and Stevenage PCT(1)
	New Forest PCT(1)
	Newbury and Community PCT(1)
	Newcastle under Lyme PCT(1)
	North and East Cornwall PCT(1)
	North Birmingham PCT(1)
	North Devon PCT(1)
	North Hampshire PCT(1)
	North Norfolk PCT(1)
	North Somerset PCT(1)
	North Stoke PCT(1)
	Norwich PCT(1)
	Oldbury and Smethwick PCT(1)
	South and East Dorset PCT(1)
	South Cambridgeshire PCT(1)
	South West Oxfordshire PCT(1)
	South Western Staffordshire PCT(1)
	Selby and York PCT(1)
	South East Hertfordshire PCT(1)
	South Leicestershire PCT(1)
	South Stoke PCT(1)
	South Wiltshire PCT(1)
	Southampton City PCT(1)
	Southern Norfolk PCT(1)
	St. Albans and Harpenden PCT (April 2006)
	St. Albans and Harpenden PCT(1)
	Staffordshire Moorlands PCT(1)
	Suffolk Coastal PCT (February 2006)
	Suffolk Coastal PCT(1)
	Suffolk West PCT (February 2006)
	Suffolk West PCT(1)
	Sussex Downs and Weald PCT(1)
	Swale PCT(1)
	Thurrock PCT(1)
	Vale of Aylesbury PCT(1)
	Waltham Forest PCT(1)
	Wandsworth PCT(1)
	Watford and Three Rivers PCT (April 2006)
	Watford and Three Rivers PCT(1)
	Waveney PCT(1)
	Welwyn Hatfield PCT(1)
	West Gloucestershire PCT(1)
	West Midlands South Strategic Health Authority (SHA)(1)
	West Norfolk PCT(1)
	West of Cornwall PCT(1)
	West Wiltshire PCT(1)
	Windsor, Ascot and Maidenhead PCT(1)
	Witham, Braintree and Halstead PCT(1)
	Wycombe PCT(1)
	Wyre Forest PCT(1)
	Yorkshire Wolds and Coast PCT(1)
	(1) The section 19 referrals issued to these NHS organisations took the form of regularity reports on the 2004-05 accounts and did not constitute a full report to the Secretary of State. These referrals do not have a specific date associated with them.
	 The organisation having little prospect of achieving balance within a three or five year period
	Ashford and St. Peter's Hospitals NHS Trust (July 2005)
	Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust (April 2006)
	Good Hope Hospital NHS Trust (June 2006)
	North Bristol NHS Trust (April 2006)
	Royal United Hospital Bath NHS Trust (April 2006)
	Royal West Sussex NHS Trust (June 2005)
	Royal West Sussex NHS Trust (April 2006)
	Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust (September 2005)
	Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust (June 2006)
	United Bristol Healthcare NHS Trust (April 2006)
	West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust (April 2006)
	Weston Area Health NHS Trust (April 2006)
	Worcester Acute Hospitals NHS Trust (April 2006)
	 Other reasons including fraud and suspicious payments
	Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire SHA—employment issues (February 2006)
	Avon Ambulance Service NHS Trust—employment issues (June 2006)

Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Strategic Health Authority

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will take steps to ensure that all the organisations within the Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire strategic health authority tackle their deficits within the timescale identified by the local operating framework.

Caroline Flint: The role of the Department is to ensure that strategic health authorities (SHAs) comply with the operating framework guidance published on 26 January 2006. Individual SHAs are responsible for the performance management of their national health service organisations and for ensuring that they achieve financial balance. The aim is for the NHS as a whole, is to have returned to financial balance by the end of 2006-07. In addition, we are aiming for all overspending organisations to have monthly balance of income and expenditure (run rate balance) by the end of 2006-07.
	There will be some exceptional cases where an organisation cannot achieve run rate balance in 2006-07 without an undue impact on patient services.
	However, where one organisation overspends, an organisation elsewhere in the system needs to underspend for the NHS as a whole to be in financial balance. It is important, therefore, that organisations return to financial balance as quickly as possible.

Bowel Cancer

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice the chief medical officer has provided on preventing bowel cancer; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: Bowel cancer is one of several cancers linked to diet and other lifestyle factors, including physical activity. Government advice on how to reduce cancer risk is to eat a healthy, balanced diet that is high in fibre, fruit and vegetables, low in fat, and containing a moderate amount of red and processed meat. Other known risk factors include obesity, smoking and alcohol consumption.

Breast Cancer

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will give greater priority to the  (a) treatment of,  (b) research into and  (c) financing of treatment of inflammatory breast cancer.

Rosie Winterton: Cancer is a Government priority. However, decisions on the provision and funding of cancer services are a matter for the national health service and individual primary care trusts to consider as part of their local priority setting.
	In the 'NHS Cancer Plan', published in 2000, the Department confirmed its commitment to increasing investment in cancer research and breast cancer trials constitute the largest proportion of trials in the national cancer research network's portfolio.
	In 2004-05, £3.8 billion was spent on cancer services. However, figures are not routinely collected centrally on the treatment of individual cancers, including inflammatory breast cancer.

Breast Cancer

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 21 June,  Official Report, column 1936W, on breast cancer, in what circumstances a breast cancer patient may not benefit from Herceptin.

Rosie Winterton: It is for individual clinicians, in discussion with a patient, to decide whether or not it is suitable to prescribe a specific drug, taking into account any relevant guidance from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). Primary care trusts may need to be involved to decide whether to support the clinician's decision and supply the drug at the national health service expense.
	On 9 June 2006, NICE published its draft guidance on Herceptin. This recommends the drug for women with early stage HER2-positive breast cancer, except where there are concerns about cardiac function.
	However, there may be other individual patients for whom it is not suitable—for example, if the woman is too frail to tolerate chemotherapy. This will be a matter for discussion between a woman and her clinician.
	These recommendations are subject to an appeal period which closed on 28 June 2006. Final guidance is expected to be issued at the beginning of July, assuming there are no appeals. There are no national restrictions on the NHS using Herceptin in the interim.

Care Homes

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many pages of  (a) guidance and  (b) forms (i) her Department and (ii) its arm's length bodies sent to care homes in each year since 1997.

Ivan Lewis: The information requested is not available centrally.

Child Malnutrition

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of child malnutrition levels in each of the last 10 years.

Caroline Flint: Malnutrition occurs when a deficiency, excess or imbalance of energy, protein, and other nutrients causes measurable adverse effects on tissue, function and clinical outcome.
	Data on child malnutrition levels in each of the last 10 years can be obtained from the hospital episodes statistics (HES) which uses the international classification for diseases (ICD) to record and collate hospital admissions data. Malnutrition is defined by a primary diagnosis between the ICD-10 codes E40 to E46. The data from HES for child malnutrition in each of the last 10 years is shown in the table.
	
		
			  Count of finished admission episodes and patients where primary diagnosis is malnutrition in children under 18 at national health service hospitals, England 1995-96 to 2004-05 
			   Finished admission episodes  Patient counts 
			 1995-96 22 n/a 
			 1996-97 38 n/a 
			 1997-98 43 21 
			 1998-99 26 14 
			 1999-2000 24 18 
			 2000-01 24 20 
			 2001-02 15 14 
			 2002-03 22 19 
			 2003-04 18 14 
			 2004-05 16 15 
			  Source:  HES, The Information Centre for health and social care

Contracts (Termination Clauses)

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she plans to take to ensure that NHS organisations contracting with private sector contracts have effective termination clauses in their contracts.

Rosie Winterton: All national health service organisations should have appropriate clauses for the termination of contracts that they give based on legal advice. Where termination of a contract is necessary this should be done on the basis of the terms within that contract and any further legal advice the commissioner may need. The Department will be issuing guidance to NHS commissioners for framework contracts later this year.

Deafblind People (Care Services)

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she next plans to review the implementation by local authorities of  (a) the statutory guidance for deafblind children and adults and  (b) section 7 of the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970 on fair access to care services; and if she will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: There are no plans to review the implementation by local authorities of the statutory guidance for deafblind children and adults. It is the responsibility of councils to identify the number of deafblind people in their area.
	There are no plans to review the implementation by local authorities of fair access to care services (FACS), which is published as statutory guidance under section 7 of the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970.
	As part of the consultation on the adult social care Green Paper "Independence, Well-being and Choice", we asked for views on the impact on FACS of shifting the balance of services from high-level need to earlier, preventative interventions. Following analysis of consultation, we believe that FACS is compatible with a preventative approach to social care.

Dentistry

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the  (a) number and  (b) proportion of children eligible for orthodontic treatment (i) prior to 1 April and (ii) following the introduction of an assessment based on an index of treatment need, broken down by primary care trust.

Rosie Winterton: Contractors only provide orthodontic treatment to a person who is assessed as having a treatment need in grade four or five of the dental health component of the index of orthodontic treatment need (IOTN) or grade three of the dental health component of that index with an aesthetic component of six or above. This is unless the contractor is of the opinion that orthodontic treatment should be provided to a person who does not have such a treatment need by virtue of the exceptional circumstances of the dental and oral condition of the person concerned.
	Research has shown that IOTN grades four and five constitute about 30 per cent., of the 12 year old child population, the age most suitable for treatment. Although many orthodontic practitioners based their treatment planning on IOTN, all grades could be treated in the general dental services. It should also be noted that children do not necessarily receive orthodontic treatment within the primary care trust which they reside.

Dentistry

Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  whether her Department treats referrals to hospital-based orthodontists from dentists as consultant to consultant referrals; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  whether her Department collects statistics on referrals to hospital-based orthodontists by dentists; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: Where the referral is from a general dental practitioner it is recorded in the same way as a referral from a general medical practitioner. If the referral is from a primary care dentist other than a general dental practitioner, it is recorded as a consultant to consultant referral.
	The table shows the number of referral requests for first out-patient appointments in orthodontics between 2002-03 and 2005-06. The information collected is split by written referrals by general practitioners (GPs) and other. GP referrals include referrals by general dental practitioners and other referrals include consultant to consultant referrals and referrals to optometrists.
	
		
			   Number of referral requests for first out-patient appointments  
			  Quarter  GP written  Other  Percentage GP written 
			  2005-06
			 3 17,894 3,607 83.2 
			 2 18,359 4,188 81.4 
			 1 19,752 4,631 81.0 
			 
			  2004-05
			 4 17,798 4,293 80.6 
			 3 19,614 4,371 81.8 
			 2 18,451 4,825 79.3 
			 1 19,365 4,516 81.1 
			 
			  2003-04
			 4 20,485 4,441 82.2 
			 3 19,197 4,318 81.6 
			 2 18,451 4,825 79.3 
			 1 19,365 4,516 81.1 
			 
			  2002-03
			 4 19,336 5,148 79.0 
			 3 19,225 4,829 79.9 
			 2 19,704 4,496 81.4 
			 1 19,658 4,351 81.9 
			 Total 286,654 67,355 81.0

Dentistry

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the estimated cost is of resolving new dental service contracts and agreements which have been signed in dispute; and how many man-hours she estimates will be spent on resolving the issues.

Rosie Winterton: Primary care trusts are responsible for local resolution of contract and pre-contract disputes for all national health service services that they commission. From April 2006, primary care dentistry has become one of these locally commissioned services. Information is not collected centrally on the costs or the time involved in the local resolution of disputes.

Dentistry

Edward Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists in Wantage constituency have stopped taking new NHS patients since 1 April.

Rosie Winterton: Data on the number of dentists who rejected the new contract on or since 1 April and who have therefore ceased to treat national health service patients is not available centrally.
	Management information is held centrally on the number of contracts rejected or accepted by primary care trusts (PCTs). A contract may be for either a practice or an individual dentist so the information is not a guide to the number of dentists who accepted or rejected the contract. As of April, 35 contracts were agreed and three rejected in the South West Oxfordshire PCT area while 23 contracts were signed and 13 rejected in the Swindon PCT area. The signed contracts represent 98.1 per cent. and 93.1 per cent. of dental services respectively. This reflects that fact that many of those who rejected new contracts were dentists who treated relatively few NHS patients. PCTs are using the funding associated with the rejected contracts to commission additional services from other dentists.

Dermatology

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps the Government is taking to improve GP  (a) initial and  (b) continued training in dermatology; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: The Department is not responsible for setting curricula for health professional training; that is rightly the responsibility of the statutory and professional bodies. However, we do share a commitment with those bodies that all health professionals are trained so that they have the skills and knowledge to deliver a high quality health service to all groups of the population with whom they deal.
	Post-registration training needs for national health service staff are decided against local NHS priorities, through appraisal processes and training needs analyses informed by local delivery plans and the needs of the service.
	Access to training is affected by a number of factors such as the availability of funding. Whether staff can be released, the availability of appropriate training interventions, mentors and assessors. It would not be practical for the centre to be prescriptive on this.

European Health Insurance Cards

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many European health insurance cards have been issued by the NHS in each calendar quarter since their inception.

Rosie Winterton: The first European health insurance cards were issued in mid July 2005. Up to 17 June 2006 19.4 million cards had been issued. The quarterly breakdown is shown in the table.
	
		
			   Number of cards issued 
			 July to September 2005 7.26 
			 October to December 2005 6.8 
			 January to March 2006 3.08 
			 April to 17 June 2006 2.28

Food Supplements

Brian Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  whether she plans to raise with the European Commission the reasons why its recent Discussion Paper on the Setting of Maximum and Minimum Amounts for Vitamins and Minerals in Foodstuffs does not include the report of the United Kingdom Government's Expert Advisory Group on Vitamins and Minerals in the Annexes containing examples of approaches to the setting of such levels;
	(2)  whom she intends to consult in preparing a response to the Discussion Paper on the Setting for Maximum and Minimum Amounts of Vitamins and Minerals in Foodstuffs recently published by the European Commission; and what her objectives are for that process;

Caroline Flint: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has raised with the European Commission why its recent discussion paper on setting maximum levels of vitamins and minerals in foodstuffs did not include the report from the United Kingdom expert group on vitamins and minerals (EVM). The Commission has explained that the EVM work provided recommended levels for individual vitamins and minerals rather than presenting a model for establishing such levels. The annexes in the Commission document provides examples of such models.
	The FSA will consult stakeholders and independent scientific experts, and draw on the work carried out by the EVM in responding to the discussion paper on the setting of maximum and minimum amounts of vitamins and minerals in foodstuffs. The FSA will hold a meeting to discuss these points as part of this consultation.

GP Vocational Training Scheme

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will take steps to ensure that funding is found to enable the 29 junior doctors who have had their general practitioner vocational training scheme posts deferred to start their training in August 2006.

Rosie Winterton: Funding for investment in education and training is allocated to strategic health authorities (SHAs) for them to use according to local priorities. It is for the SHAs and their deaneries, in this case London, to determine their priorities and allocate resources accordingly. I understand there has been no reduction in the number of funded training places by the London Deanery.

Health Care Support Workers

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many healthcare support workers have been employed in the NHS at Agenda for Change level  (a) five,  (b) four,  (c) three,  (d) two and  (e) one since 1997; what the annual change in staff has been at each level; and what the forecast annual change is over the next 10 year period.

Rosie Winterton: Assimilation to the agenda for change pay system has recently been completed with just under 99 per cent. of staff on the new system by the end of March. Data are not collected centrally on the number of staff in each band, but the computer aided job evaluation system can provide data on the frequency with which particular types of job have assimilated to the various pay bands.
	Health care support worker is not a commonly used job title. In the case of nursing health care assistants, which are the largest group of support worker, the data show that there have been 12,694 nursing health care assistant matches to band two, 9,255 to band three and 365 to band four. There have been no matches to band five.
	Planned changes in staff numbers in jobs at different levels are determined locally.

Health Trusts (Gloucestershire)

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 16 June 2006,  Official Report, column 1562W on NHS trust deficits, if she will provide the same information for  (a) Cotswold and Vale and  (b) Cheltenham and Tewkesbury primary care trusts.

Caroline Flint: Information on the count of patients residing in the Cotswold and Vale primary care trust (PCT) and the Cheltenham and Tewkesbury PCT areas, by site of treatment, has been placed in the Library.

Insulin

Philip Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the number of deaths resulting from the incorrect self-administration of insulin by diabetes patients in each of the last three years.

Rosie Winterton: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 2 March 2006,  Official Report, column 919W.

Maternity Services

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what estimate she has made of the cost of a birth without complications in a  (a) birth centre and  (b) consultant-led maternity unit;
	(2)  what steps she is taking to encourage NHS trusts  (a) to support existing birth centres and  (b) to establish new birth centres;
	(3)  if she will list the birth centres in England; and which birth centres have been closed  (a) permanently and  (b) temporarily in the last three years.

Ivan Lewis: The information requested on the cost of a normal birth in a birth centre and consultant-led maternity unit is not collected centrally. Reference cost data are collected against three specific health care resource groups: normal delivery with or without complications or co-morbidities, assisted delivery with or without complications or co-morbidities and caesarean section with or without complications or co-morbidities. This information is shown in tables one and two.
	The maternity standard of the national service framework for children, young people and maternity services requires national health service maternity care providers and primary care trusts to ensure that the range of services available locally constitutes real choice for women, including care in midwife-led units either in the community or on a hospital site. It is for primary care trusts and NHS trusts to determine the appropriate pattern of service provision locally, taking into account the needs of local people, evidence of effectiveness and available resources.
	The information requested to list birth centres in England and on which birth centres have been closed either permanently or temporarily in the last three years is not collected centrally
	
		
			  Table 1: 2004-05 national reference costs data for elective inpatient maternity health care resource groups (HRGs) 
			  Interquartile range of costs
			  HRG code  HRG label  Number of finished consultant episodes (FCEs)cost  National average unit cost (£)  Lower quartile (£)  Upper quartile (£)  Number of bed days  Average length of stay (days  Number of data submissions 
			 N06 Normal delivery w cc 160 1,226.94 1,119 1,541 647 4.04 18 
			 N07 Normal delivery w/o cc 3,720 902.71 673 1,365 7,098 1.91 106 
			 N08 Assisted delivery w cc 54 1,280.46 1,174 1,635 233 4.31 13 
			 N09 Assisted delivery w/o cc 703 1,137.76 684 1,499 1,822 2.59 31 
			 N10 Caesarean section w cc 346 1,767.19 1,450 2,989 1,933 5.59 35 
			 Nil Caesarean section w/o cc 2,989 1,468.80 1,250 2,237 10,110 3.38 65 
			  Totals 7,972 — — — 21,843 — — 
			  Source:  2004-05 Reference costs schedule NSRC4: NHS trust and primary care trust (PCT) combined/TELIP sheet. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: 2004-05 national reference costs data for non elective inpatient maternity HRGs 
			  Interquartile range of costs
			  HRG code  HRG label  Number of finished consultant episodes (FCEs)cost  National average unit cost (£)  Lower quartile (£)  Upper quartile (£)  Number of bed days  Average length of stay (days  Number of data submissions 
			 N06 Normal delivery w cc 21,770 1,576.22 1,112 2,103 75,771 3.48 224 
			 N07 Normal delivery w/o cc 351,662 935.37 682 1,160 653,733 1.86 355 
			 N08 Assisted delivery w cc 6,173 1, 887.17 1,517 2,383 26,458 4.29 179 
			 N09 Assisted delivery w/o cc 61,450 1,309.17 957 1,524 160,860 2.62 217 
			 N10 Caesarean section w cc 20,174 2,880.01 2,140 3,537 127,208 6.31 209 
			 Nil Caesarean section w/o cc 110,213 2,121.77 1,562 2,492 462,024 4.19 241 
			  Totals 571,442 — — — 1,506,054 — — 
			  Source:  2004-05 Reference costs schedule NSRC4: NHS trust and primary care trust (PCT) combined/TELIP sheet.

Mental Health Services

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the primary care trusts which are piloting the well-being programme in mental health; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: The following organisations are piloting the well-being programme:
	 Wave one—2003
	Coventry Primary Care Trust (PCT);
	Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Trust;
	Dorset Healthcare National Health Service Trust;
	South London and The Maudsley NHS Trust;
	East London and the City Mental Health Trust;
	Leeds Mental Health Trust;
	Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys Mental Health Trust; and
	North Glamorgan NHS Trust.
	 Wave two
	Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care NHS Trust;
	Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Trust; and
	Barnet, Enfield and Haringey PCTs.

Mental Health Services

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been contributed by the NHS to the well-being pilot programmes in improving mental health.

Rosie Winterton: The Department has made £7 million available to spearhead primary care trusts in 2006-07 and in 2007-08 to support the implementation of the "Choosing Health" commitments.

Nappies

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures she has put in place to ensure the safety of commercial cloth laundering services supplying NHS maternity wards with communally laundered cloth nappies for newborn babies; at what temperature these nappies are required to be washed; and whether NHS standards for laundry and infection control were met by the laundering services in 2005-06.

Ivan Lewis: Commercial cloth laundering services supplying national health service maternity wards with communally laundered cloth nappies for newborn babies must comply with HSG(95)18, a copy of which is available in the Library. The guidelines set a thermal disinfection wash cycle in which the water temperature has been raised to 65 degrees Celsius for not less than 10 minutes or to 71 degrees Celsius for not less than three minutes.
	A hot wash cycle will destroy most vegetative bacteria and enteric viruses. However, water temperature is only one factor in the laundering process as the cleansing effect of the detergent and the dilution effect of the pre-wash, wash and rinse are also important.
	Monitoring of laundry services is a local responsibility.

Obesity

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action her Department  (a) has taken and  (b) plans to take to (i) assist people who are obese and (ii) encourage people to take action to reduce obesity; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: The "Choosing Health" White paper, published in November 2004, committed the Government to a range of actions aimed at tackling obesity. Key components of our strategy to encourage people to choose a better diet include the introduction of front of pack labelling on processed foods and restricting promotion of foods high in fat, salt and sugar to children. Work is underway to increase levels of physical activity, particularly in schools through the school sports strategy, and the setting up of sports partnerships. The Department is currently working with stakeholders to develop a national obesity awareness campaign for launch in early 2007.
	To assist people who are obese, general practitioners were sent an obesity care pathway and weight loss guide at the beginning of May. The care pathway is an interim measure pending publication of National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidance on the prevention and treatment of obesity which is due before the end of the year.

Parliamentary Questions

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she will reply to question  (a) 73450 and  (b) 73451 on the Staffordshire ambulance service tabled by the hon. Member for Lichfield on 22 May 2006.

Rosie Winterton: Answers were given on 14 June.

Patient Advice and Liaison Service

Angela Watkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patient advice and liaison service workers there are in each NHS trust in England; and what the average number of patients treated per year in each NHS trust in England was over the last five years.

Rosie Winterton: Because of the local nature of the service, the Department does not keep central data relating to patient advice and liaison service (PALS) operational activities, including the number of PALS workers in each national health service trust in England.
	The following table summarises the number of patients treated per year by the NHS in England over the last five years, and is taken from the NHS annual report 2004-05.
	
		
			   2000-01  2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  Total 
			 General and acute admissions 8,944 8,997 9,269 9,719 10,050 46,979 
			 Geriatric admissions 359 347 357 357 368 1,788 
			 Maternity admissions 896 877 924 970 1,000 4,667 
			 New out-patients (first attendances) 12,466 12,613 12,879 13,431 13,371 64,760 
			 New accident and emergency (first attendances) 12,953 12,901 13,253 15,313 16,712 71,132 
			 Yearly total 35,618, 35,735 36,682 39,790 41,501 — 
			  Note:  Figures relate to thousands

Patient Advice and Liaison Service

Angela Watkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health in what ways the patient advice and liaison service informs cancer patients of its ability to act as a gateway to information and advice about welfare benefits.

Rosie Winterton: Because of the local nature of the service, the Department does not keep central data relating to patient advice and liaison service (PALS) operational activities. However, one of the core features of PALS is to be identifiable and accessible to patients, their carers, friends and families and strategic health authorities regularly evaluate PALS against this criterion.

Patient Correspondence (Outsourcing)

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many cases there have been of inaccurate  (a) medication and  (b) diagnosis following the outsourcing of patients' correspondence to non-EU countries;
	(2)  what audit safeguards are in place to monitor the outsourcing of patient correspondence to non-EU countries;
	(3)  how many hospitals in  (a) England,  (b) south-east England and  (c) Kent have outsourced the typing of patients' correspondence to agencies outside the EU;
	(4)  what target time has been agreed for the return of correspondence between consultants and general practitioners sent abroad for typing; and what procedures are in place in the event that the target is not met;
	(5)  what steps have been taken to ensure the maintenance of patient confidentiality in respect of patients' notes outsourced to non-EU countries for typing.

Caroline Flint: holding answers for UIN 80817, 80818 and 80819 27 June 2006
	Information is not held centrally on the number of national health service organisations which outsource the typing of patient correspondence and records to agencies outside of the European Union, nor on the accuracy of subsequent medication or diagnosis where this has been done.
	NHS organisations are legally responsible for managing the health records of their patients and are required by data protection legislation, reinforced by guidance issued by the Department, to ensure the accuracy and confidentiality of information held within records. They are expected to take appropriate technical and organisational measures to ensure this is the case, including the specification of quality standards in contracts for outsourced services and the establishment of appropriate audit safeguards, but compliance remains a local responsibility. Target delivery times and other service performance standards are a matter for negotiation between parties. One of the many benefits of the national programme for information technology is that it will eliminate errors in the transcription of paper notes.

Policy Research Programme

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the priorities are of the Policy Research Programme within the Department.

Andy Burnham: Priorities for the policy research programme (PRP) are determined primarily by the Department's strategic objectives and public service agreements. The PRP funds approximately 300 policy related research projects at any one time. Currently, these provide evidence to inform policy on:
	health protection including antimicrobial resistance, healthcare acquired infections, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, infectious diseases;
	health promotion including obesity, nutrition, tobacco, sexual health, drugs, alcohol, foetal alcohol syndrome;
	health inequalities;
	specific disease areas such as coronary heart disease, stroke, and diabetes;
	screening policy such as for cancer and hepatitis C;
	policy for vulnerable or at risk groups such as child and maternal health, people with physical and learning disabilities, long-term conditions, mental health problems, and older people;
	adult social care;
	whole systems reform; and
	the health and social care work force.

Prescription Charges (Exemption)

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what guidance is issued to doctors on the verification of physical disabilities that trigger exemption from prescription charges; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what criteria are used to determine eligibility for prescription charges physical disability exemption in the case of people who cannot go out unaided;
	(3)  how many individuals receive exemption from prescription charges due to a continuing physical disability preventing them from going out of the home unaided; what monitoring of such claims is undertaken; and if she will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: No guidance has been issued to the national health service specifically concerning the eligibility or verification of patients who apply for a prescription charge exemption on the grounds of a continuing physical disability that prevents them from going outside their home without the help of another person. When applying for a prescription charge exemption, patients are required to declare that they suffer from such a condition and this has to be signed by a doctor or a member of their general practitioner practice with access to the patient's records to confirm the patient's declaration.
	The prescription pricing division of the NHS Business Services Authority became responsible for the issuing of medical exemption certificates on 1 October 2002. Since then 70,887 medical exemption certificates have been issued to those declaring a continuing physical disability which prevents them from going outside their home without the help of another person. The certificates are valid for five years from the date of issue.

Primary Care Trusts

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether primary care trusts will be required to pay acute trusts full tariff for all the activity their patients access.

Andy Burnham: Primary care trusts (PCTs) pay for activity, within the scope of payment by results, commissioned from national health service trusts and foundation trusts at prices determined by the national tariff. National rules on applying the tariff in 2006-07 are set out in "Payment by Results—Implementation Support Guide (Technical Guidance)" (published January 2006). There are different rules for out-patients/elective admissions; accident and emergency (A and E); and non-elective admissions.
	For out-patients/elective admissions, payments are determined by the number and complexity of cases treated using national tariff prices. This may be expressed as a formula (activity x tariff).
	For A and E, payments are determined by the planned number and complexity of cases, with additional funding for over performance at tariff, and withdrawal of funding for underperformance at 20 per cent. of tariff.
	For non-elective admissions, a full tariff is paid for activity up to a threshold, which is set nationally. Activity above and below this threshold is paid for using a reduced tariff, that is 50 per cent. tariff in 2006-07.
	The national tariff for 2006-07 is published on the Department's website at: www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/13/66/04/04136604.pdf

Prisons

Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many prisoners at HMP Full Sutton her Department counted as resident in the prison for the purposes of calculating allocations to Yorkshire Wolds and Coast Primary Care Trust for 2006-07.

Ivan Lewis: 588 prisoners were estimated as resident at HMP Full Sutton and included in the population of Yorkshire Wolds and Coast Primary Care Trust when revenue allocations were made for 2006-07.

Severe Head Trauma

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many specialist care centres for the rehabilitation of patients with severe head trauma there were in  (a) the South West and  (b) England in each year since 1997;
	(2)  how much her Department has spent on the provision of specialist rehabilitation services for patients with severe head trauma in each year since 1997;
	(3)  how many hospitals in the South West region offer specialist services for the rehabilitation of patients with severe head injuries;
	(4)  how many patients have received treatment for severe head trauma in a specialist centre in  (a) Taunton constituency,  (b) the South West and  (c) England in each year since 2001.

Ivan Lewis: Information on the number of specialist care centres for the rehabilitation of patients with severe head trauma, and the number of hospitals offering such services is not collected centrally.
	Information on the number of patients receiving treatment for severe head trauma in England and the South West, and the cost of that provision, is not collected centrally. Data on the number of admissions to the specialist neurological rehabilitation unit Alfred Morris House, Taunton and Somerset national health service trust are shown in the following table.
	
		
			   April—March 
			   2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			 Acquired brain injury 33 32 32 39 49 
			 Complex neurological disability 68 81 73 79 67 
			 Total 101 113 105 118 116 
			  Note:  The above data exclude day cases and out-patient activity.

Social Workers

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the Safer Place initiative target of reducing violence and abuse against social workers by 25 per cent. by March 2005 was met; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: Data to track this recommendation of the national taskforce on violence against social care staff are not collected centrally.
	The responsibility to protect staff from violence and abuse falls to the employers of the staff, and the final report of the taskforce, 'A Safer Place', recommended a number of targets for employers to set themselves, against which to measure progress, and to act where standards were not good enough. One of the recommendations to employers was that they should reduce the incidence of violence to workers by 25 per cent. by March 2005 from a baseline of March 2002.

Spinal Cord Injuries

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS beds within specialist facilities are available for spinal cord injured patients; and how many were available in  (a) 1990,  (b) 1995,  (c) 2000 and  (d) 2005.

Ivan Lewis: The Department has conducted censuses of available adult intensive care and high dependency provision since 1999. Details of such provision in spinal units (SUs) on census days in 2000 and 2005, and on the date of the most recent census, are shown in the table.
	
		
			  Date of census  SU intensive care beds  SU high dependency care beds 
			 16 January 2006 8 24 
			 14 July 2005 6 20 
			 13 January 2005 6 25 
			 14 July 2000 4 15 
			 15 January 2000 4 6 
			  Source:  Department of Health, hospital activity statistics, form KHOSa 
		
	
	The table shows the number of available (open and staffed) adult intensive care and high dependency beds in national health service hospitals in England. A census provides a snapshot of provision on one particular day and it should be noted that the number of beds may vary from day to day according to clinical demands and staff availability, with flexibility between general and specialist beds and between intensive care and high dependency.

Streptococcus Testing

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for South Derbyshire (Mr. Todd) of 6 June 2005,  Official Report, columns 439-41W, on streptococcus testing, what the findings were of the studies undertaken by the health technology assessment programme on prenatal screening for group B streptococcus.

Ivan Lewis: The United Kingdom national screening committee has asked the health technology assessment (HTA) programme to undertake two studies on prenatal screening for group B streptococcal disease. These studies are still in progress.
	The first study is on prenatal screening and treatment strategies to prevent group B streptococcal and other bacterial infections in early infancy: cost effectiveness and expected value of information analyses.
	The second study is on prenatal screening for group B streptococcal disease: protocol development for a possible clinical trial.
	Details of all ongoing reports and research outputs can be found on the HTA's website at www.hta.nhsweb. nhs.uk.

Trans Fats

Michael Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 18 April 2006,  Official Report, column 124W, on trans fats, which national diet and nutrition surveys were referred to in that answer; which of these surveys yielded data on dietary fatty acid profiles according to socio-economic status; and what conclusions she has drawn from these data regarding dietary fatty acid profiles according to socio-economic status.

Caroline Flint: My previous reply referred to results from the national diet and nutrition survey (NDNS) of adults aged 19 to 64(1). This survey did not collect detailed information on socio-economic status, but did identify participants living in households in which someone was in receipt of benefits (benefit households).
	When intakes are expressed as a percentage of food energy, there were no significant differences in the fat and fatty acid composition of the diets of men and women from benefit and non-benefit households.
	Earlier surveys in the NDNS series covering young people aged four to 18(2) and older adults aged 65 and over(3) also found no differences in the fat and fatty acid composition of diets according to socio-economic status.
	 Notes:
	(1) Henderson L, Gregory J, Irving K and Swan G. National Diet and Nutrition Survey: adults aged 19 to 64 years. Volume 2: Energy, protein, carbohydrate, fat and alcohol intake. TSO (London: 2003).
	(2) Gregory J, Lowe S, Bates CJ, Prentice A, Jackson LV, Smithers G, Wenlock R and Farron M. National Diet and Nutrition Survey: young people aged four to 18 years. Volume 1: Report of the diet and nutrition survey (2000). TSO (London: 2000).
	(3) Finch S, Doyle W, Lowe C, Bates CJ, Prentice A, Smithers G and Clarke PC. National Diet and Nutrition Survey: people aged 65 years or over. Volume 1: Report of the diet and nutrition survey. TSO (London: 1998).

HOME DEPARTMENT

Abortion

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance is issued by his Department for officials adjudicating asylum cases involving alleged coercive or enforced abortion; and if he will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: The Asylum Policy Instructions are published on the IND website at http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/lawandpolicy/policyinstructions/api

Arms Imports

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  which UK-based companies have been authorised to import and store  (a) AK-47 rifles and  (b) other small arms from Bosnia since June 2003;
	(2)  how many UK-based companies are authorised  (a) to import and  (b) to store AK-47 style weapons.

Vernon Coaker: Information in the form requested is not available from either the Department of Trade and Industry's database of import licences or from the Home Office records of authorities granted under section five of the Firearms Act 1968 (as amended).

Asylum/Immigration

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) households and  (b) children he is supporting under section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 (i) in each region and country of the UK and (ii) in each local social services authority area in the north east of England.

Liam Byrne: I am advised that the following table provides management information on the number of main applicants who were supported under section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 as at 31 March 2006. Information on the number of children supported under section 4 is not currently available.
	A breakdown of those supported by social services authority area in the north east of England is not currently available.
	
		
			  Area  Number on support 
			 East Midlands 568 
			 East of England 37 
			 London 991 
			 North East 253 
			 North West 807 
			   
			 Scotland 152 
			 South East 73 
			 South West 243 
			   
			 Wales 222 
			   
			 West Midlands 961 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 1,142 
			 Total 5,449

Asylum/Immigration

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of failed asylum seekers returning to their home country did so voluntarily in each month of 2006.

Liam Byrne: I am advised that the following table shows the number of principal asylum applicants removed from the UK to a destination that was the same as that of their nationality, broken down by type of removal in each month of the first quarter of 2006.
	
		
			  Removals and voluntary departures( 1)  of asylum applicants( 2) , excluding dependants, removed to a destination that was the same as their nationality, January to March 2006( 3, 4) 
			  Number of principal applicants 
			  Nationality  January 2006  February 2006  March 2006  Q1 2006 
			 Total principal asylum applicants removed(5) 935 1,205 1,420 3,560 
			 of whom: leaving under Assisted Voluntary Return Programmes(6) 270 355 500 1,125 
			 Persons recorded by IND as voluntary departures(7) 40 30 45 115 
			 Persons who it is established have left the UK without informing the Immigration Authorities 25 75 80 185 
			 (1 )Includes persons departing 'Voluntarily' after enforcement action had been initiated against them, persons leaving under Assisted Voluntary Return Programmes run by the International Organisation for Migration, and removals on safe third country grounds. (2 )Persons who had sought asylum at some stage, excluding dependants. (3 )Figures rounded to the nearest five and may not sum due to rounding. (4.)Provisional( )figures (5 )Including persons departing 'Voluntarily' after enforcement action had been initiated against them. (6 )Persons leaving under Voluntary Assisted Return Programmes run by the International Organisation for Migration. May include some on—entry cases and some cases where enforcement action has been initiated. (7 )Includes persons departing 'Voluntarily' after enforcement action had been initiated against them.

Asylum/Immigration

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offenders being considered for deportation have been granted bail by the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT) in each of the last five years; and how many such persons have committed  (a) offences and  (b) offences of a violent and sexual nature whilst on bail.

Liam Byrne: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Asylum/Immigration

Michael Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action has been taken against immigration officials who allowed the Baybasin brothers and their criminal associates to move to the UK in exchange for the gang leader becoming an informer; if he will identify the officials concerned; and whether they will be prosecuted.

Liam Byrne: I am unable to comment where wider investigations are still ongoing.

Asylum/Immigration

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what response he has made to the July 2005 report by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman on the treatment of detainees  (a) at Oakington Immigration Centre and  (b) while under escort; and if he will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: An action plan containing all 54 recommendations from the investigation carried out by Stephen Shaw into the allegations contained in the BBC documentary, 'Detention Undercover: the Real Story' was compiled and published. I am advised that all remaining recommendations will be implemented by October 2006.

Asylum/Immigration

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his policy is on the detention of minors in adult immigration detention facilities.

Liam Byrne: I am advised that unaccompanied minors are not detained other than in one very limited circumstance: where, exceptionally, it is necessary to detain a child while alternative care arrangements are made (normally overnight).
	Families with children may be detained in the following circumstances: initially, whilst their identities and basis of claim are established; where there are reasonable grounds for believing that they will fail to comply with the conditions of temporary admission or release; or to effect removal. In addition, families whose asylum claims appear to be capable of being decided quickly may be detained as part of a fast-track process.

Asylum/Immigration

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the legal basis is for detaining a British-born child in an immigration detention centre.

Liam Byrne: The legal basis for detaining a British-born child in an immigration removal centre is explained in IND's Family Removals Policy. A copy of this document has been placed in the House Libraries.

Biometric Registration

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research his Department has undertaken into biometric registration and verification since December 2004.

Joan Ryan: A number of pieces of biometric research have been completed or commissioned since December 2004. In spring 2005, a large United Kingdom Passport Service biometric enrolment trial reported its findings. In addition, research regarding the effectiveness of facial recognition systems for use in fraud prevention has been completed in March 2006.
	Furthermore, the Home Office is funding research by the National Physical Laboratory on biometric minutiae interoperability. This research will develop methodology and tools to assess and improve the interoperability of minutiae-based fingerprint recognition systems. The work is also contributing to international standards on data formats for fingerprint minutiae, conformance testing, and interoperable performance testing. It is anticipated that this research will be completed by mid 2007.
	Biometric experts working in the Home Office also receive input and review findings from research conducted by other institutions internationally and examine its implications for the development of Government initiatives. Such work is facilitated by the work of the Biometric Assurance Group, chaired by the Government Chief Scientist, Sir David King and bodies such as the Biometric Experts Group for the National Identity Scheme.

Child Sexual Abuse

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children under 14 years were recorded as experiencing sexual abuse in each of the last five years; what services for such children are funded by his Department; and what mechanisms are in place to provide liaison between services funded by his Department and those provided by other funding streams.

Vernon Coaker: The Home Office does not collect statistics for the number of children under the age of 14 recorded as experiencing sexual abuse.
	The National Service Framework (NSF) for Children, Young People and Maternity Services Standard five 10.6 sets out that
	"Local authorities, NHS Trusts and primary care trusts ensure that integrated services are available to respond in a co-ordinated manner to the assessed needs of children and young people and their families where a child has been or is at risk of being abused or neglected. The types of programmes offered are based on best available evidence of what interventions are effective and are subject to regular audit, the findings of which inform future service provision".
	The NSF for Children, Young People and Maternity Services is a 10 year strategy.
	The Department of Health is working with the Home Office, the Department of Education and Skills and voluntary sector organisations providing services for sexually abused children through the joint Department of Health and National Institute for Mental Health in England (NIMHE) Victims of Violence and Abuse Prevention Programme (WAPP). This is a two year programme until April 2007. The aim of the programme is to develop national service guidelines based on research conducted by the programme. Guidelines will be published in spring 2007. The programme is intended to equip professionals and services to identify and respond to the mental and physical health effects of child sexual abuse. An expert group on child victims of domestic violence and sexual assault has been established to advise the programme.
	The Home Office and the Department of Health supported the development of Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs) for children: Project Amethyst in London, and St. Mary's in Manchester. £100,000 from the Victim's Fund was allocated to this work in 2005-06.

Convicted Foreign Nationals

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign nationals are being supervised by the Probation Service in  (a) West Sussex and  (b) Bognor Regis and Littlehampton constituency.

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his written ministerial statement of 23 May 2006,  Official Report, column 77WS, on deportation and removal of foreign nationals, 
	(1)  in respect of how many of the  (a) more serious and  (b) most serious offenders the whereabouts are not known;
	(2)  if he will give a breakdown by nationality of the  (a) most serious offenders and  (b) more serious offenders identified as not being under control; and in the case of the most serious offenders not under control how long each offender has not been under control.

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  if he will list in descending order according to the number of prisoners concerned the countries of origin of foreign national prisoners who have  (a) been released without consideration for deportation and  (b) been deported since February 1999;
	(2)  if he will break down the number of foreign national prisoners detained in England and Wales by countries of origin.

Liam Byrne: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on these matters today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Correspondence

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter of 19 December 2005 from the hon. Member for Aylesbury about the asylum case of Mr. K. K. of Aylesbury (reference K515596).

Liam Byrne: I wrote to the hon. Member on 12 June 2006.

Departmental Annual Report

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when his Department expects to publish its annual report for 2005-06.

Liam Byrne: The Home Office Departmental Report is planned for completion and publication before the summer Parliamentary recess.

Departmental Finance Directors

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the  (a) name,  (b) professional and academic qualifications and  (c) relevant experience are of the finance director of his Department.

Liam Byrne: Helen Kilpatrick is the Home Office Director General, Financial and Commercial. After graduating from King's College, she qualified as an accountant as a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA). She was appointed to the Home Office in April 2005. She has held a variety of finance and corporate services posts in the public sector, most recently prior to joining the Home Office as Deputy Chief Executive, Strategic Director for Resources and County Treasury of West Sussex county council.

Foreign Offenders

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many deportation reviews of foreign prisoners his Department conducted in each of the last 10 years;
	(2)  how many foreign criminals have been deported in each of the last 10 years.

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department under what circumstances a person may be deported from the UK; what legislation governs the deportation of an individual; what plans he has to review this legislation; and if he will make a statement.

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his written statement of 23 May 2006,  Official Report, columns 78-81WS, on deportation and removal of foreign nationals, 
	(1)  how many of the 1019 foreign offenders identified were eligible for removal from the UK;
	(2)  how many of the  (a) most serious offenders,  (b) more serious offenders and  (c) other offenders out of the 1,019 identified foreign criminals have (i) applied for bail and (ii) been granted bail since 23 May.
	(3)  how many individuals have been  (a) deported and  (b) excluded from the UK on the basis of the guidelines set out by his predecessor in August 2005.

David Gauke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for how many prisoners released from British prisons since March 2005 the Department does not have a record of nationality.

Brian Binley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in how many of the cases of prisoners who should have been considered for deportation prior to their release the prisoner's last known address prior to conviction was in  (a) the Northampton South constituency and  (b) elsewhere in Northamptonshire; how many are known to have returned to that address in each case; and what steps are being taken (i) to identify them and (ii) to ensure that consideration for deportation takes place.

Liam Byrne: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on these matters today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Foreign Offenders

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many foreign nationals are being held in each prison in Wales, broken down by  (a) offence for which the sentence is being served,  (b) length of sentence,  (c) nationality and  (d) deportation status on completing sentence;
	(2)  how many foreign nationals have been released from each prison in Wales over the past two years, broken down by  (a) offence committed,  (b) nationality,  (c) whether deported on conclusion of sentence,  (d) whether originally in the country illegally and  (e) whether recommended for deportation by the court but released into the community;
	(3)  what steps he has taken to determine how many foreign national prisoners have been released in Wales without having their deportation status checked; and if he will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: holding answers 3 May 2006
	My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on these matters today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Foreign Offenders

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign convicted prisoners in respect of whom the trial judge recommended that deportation be considered on release have been released from  (a) Aylesbury Young Offenders Institution,  (b) Grendon Prison,  (c) Woodhill Prison and  (d) Springhill Prison in each of the last five years; how many such prisoners were deported; and if he will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 3 May 2006
	In his written ministerial statement to the House on 15 May 2006,  Official Report, column 41WS, my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary explained that he was aware of a number of requests from hon. Members asking for a detailed breakdown of cases by the prison or constituency from which foreign national prisoners have been released. In his subsequent statement to the House on 23 May 2006,  Official Report, column 78WS, my right hon. Friend confirmed that further updates would pend the outcome of a thorough rechecking of all the information we hold in this area. We shall update the House with those results as soon as possible.

Foreign Offenders

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign prisoners  (a) who were the subject of his statement and (i) have been considered for deportation and (ii) have yet to be considered for deportation and  (b) who remain incarcerated are from countries to which deportations are not usually undertaken on human rights grounds.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 3 May 2006
	My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Foreign Offenders

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons who received a recommendation for deportation by an immigration judge  (a) were removed in 2005 and  (b) have been removed in 2006.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 3 May 2006
	My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Foreign Offenders

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign nationals have been released from HM Prison Littlehey in each of the last five calendar years; how many were deported upon their release; and what crime each had committed.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 3 May 2006
	My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Foreign Offenders

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign national prisoners from  (a) HMP Lancaster and  (b) Lancaster Farm Young Offender Institution have been released without consideration for deportation in each year from 1999 to 2005.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 3 May 2006
	My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Foreign Offenders

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what representations he has received from immigration Ministers on the pace of deportation of foreign prisoners since 1999.
	(2)  who in his Department is responsible for checking whether a foreign prisoner has been recommended for deportation by a court.
	(3)  what representations his office has received from employees of Immigration and Nationality Directorate on deportations of foreign prisoners since 1997.
	(4)  what instructions he gave to the Minister of Immigration on dealing with foreign prisoners recommended for deportation since December 2003.

Liam Byrne: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary and his predecessor have provided regular updates to the House on all aspects of the recent events concerning the Department's handling of the deportation of foreign national prisoners who were released without consideration. In particular I refer the hon. Member to the most recent written ministerial statement of 23 May 2006,  Official Report, column 77WS, where the Home Secretary sets out his analysis of the Department, the eight priority areas set out for management action to rectify these and required organisational improvements. In a written ministerial statement today my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has also updated the House on the latest statistical position in respect of this matter.

Foreign Offenders

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the released prisoners who should have been considered for deportation are from the Dorset area.

Liam Byrne: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality department (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Foreign Offenders

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the foreign prisoners who were released without being considered for deportation are thought to be in Wales.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 8 May 2006
	My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality department (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Foreign Offenders

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been deported to third countries, rather than that of their nationality in each of the last three years.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 8 May 2006
	My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Foreign Offenders

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what proportion of his time he has spent on dealing with deportation of convicted foreign offenders since September 2005;
	(2)  how many hours he has spent on issues related to the release of foreign criminals to date; and how many hours he expects to spend working on this issue until the end of 2006.
	(3)  how many meetings he has (a) attended and  (b) chaired on the release of foreign offenders since July 2005.

Liam Byrne: holding answers 8 May 2006
	My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary and his predecessor have provided regular updates to the House on all aspects of the recent events concerning the Department's handling of the deportation of foreign national prisoners who were released without consideration. In particular I refer the hon. Member to the most recent written ministerial statement of 23 May 2006,  Official Report, column 77WS, where the Home Secretary sets out his analysis of the Department, the eight priority areas set out for management action to rectify these and required organisational improvements. In a written ministerial statement today my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has also updated the House on the latest statistical position in respect of this matter.

Foreign Offenders

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether recommendation for deportations after sentence can be made in respect of EU nationals.

Liam Byrne: Yes. A foreign national convicted of an offence who has been recommended for deportation can be liable to deportation under section 3(6) of the Immigration Act 1971.

Foreign Offenders

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many foreign nationals were released from HMP Wellingborough in each of the last 12 months; and how many were considered for deportation.
	(2)  what plans there are to release foreign nationals from HMP Wellingborough over the next six months.

Liam Byrne: holding answers 8 May 2006
	My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on these matters today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Foreign Offenders

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his letter to the Speaker of 28 April 2006, on deportation and removal of foreign nationals, what definition he uses of more serious offences.

John Reid: My predecessor and I have provided regular updates to the House on all aspects of the recent events concerning the Department's handling of the deportation of foreign national prisoners who were released without consideration. In particular I refer the right hon. Member to the most recent written ministerial statement of 23 May 2006,  Official Report, column 77WS, where I set out my analysis of the Department, the eight priority areas set out for management action to rectify these and required organisational improvements. In a written ministerial statement today I have also updated the House on the latest statistical position in respect of this matter.

Foreign Offenders

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many convicted defendants in courts in England and Wales have  (a) been recommended for deportation,  (b) been deported and  (c) appealed (i) successfully and (ii) unsuccessfully against notice of deportation in each of the last eight years.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 8 May 2006
	My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Foreign Offenders

Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign prisoners have been released from prisons in the East Riding of Yorkshire without being considered for deportation in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Foreign Offenders

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many foreign prisoners have been released on bail in each week since 25 April; how many have breached their bail conditions; how many have been taken back into custody; and whether each prisoner was originally convicted of  (a) a serious,  (b) a more serious , (c) a most serious and  (d) another offence;
	(2)  how many of the 1,019 foreign prisoners released without being considered for deportation have been allowed to stay in the UK after being considered for deportation; and how many of these are subject to review;
	(3)  how many of the 1,019 foreign criminals released without being considered for deportation and subsequently detained have since been granted bail;
	(4)  how many of the 1,019 foreign prisoners released without consideration for deportation have been bailed subject to licensing requirements;
	(5)  how many of the most serious offenders of the 1,019 foreign prisoners released without being considered for deportation have not been detained;
	(6)  how many of the 83 more serious offenders released without being considered for deportation have been brought under control;
	(7)  what proportion of foreign criminals subject to deportation orders were deported in each of the last 10 years.

John Reid: I have updated the House on these matters today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Foreign Offenders

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his timetable is for introducing legislation to ensure that there is a legal presumption that foreign prisoners will be deported at the end of their sentences.

John Reid: My predecessor and I have provided regular updates to the House on all aspects of the recent events concerning the Department's handling of the deportation of foreign national prisoners who were released without consideration. In particular I refer the right hon. Member to the most recent written ministerial statement of 23 May 2006,  Official Report, column 77WS, where I set out my analysis of the Department, the eight priority areas set out for management action to rectify these and required organisational improvements. In a written ministerial statement today I have also updated the House on the latest statistical position in respect of this matter.

Foreign Offenders

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign nationals convicted in the Crown courts in England and Wales in each of the last eight years were recommended to the Home Secretary for deportation on completion of their sentences; what the crime committed by the offender was in each case; and on what date  (a) they were deported and  (b) he decided not to follow the recommendation.

Liam Byrne: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Foreign Offenders

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many meetings his civil servants have had with chief constables to discuss the whereabouts of foreign offenders released without consideration for deportation;
	(2)  how many  (a) meetings and  (b) telephone calls he has had with Chief Constables to discuss the release of foreign offenders.

Liam Byrne: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary and his predecessor have provided regular updates to the House on all aspects of the recent events concerning the Department's handling of the deportation of foreign national prisoners who were released without consideration. In particular I refer the hon. Member to the most recent written ministerial statement of 23 May 2006,  Official Report, column 77WS, where the Home Secretary sets out his analysis of the Department, the eight priority areas set out for management action to rectify these and required organisational improvements. In a written ministerial statement today my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has also updated the House on the latest statistical position in respect of this matter.

Foreign Offenders

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  if he will list the detention centres in which incarcerated foreign nationals released without being deported had been held;
	(2)  how many foreign nationals who were not deported on release from prison and who have subsequently been located by his Department had reoffended; and if he will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on these matters today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Foreign Offenders

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  whether his Department received correspondence prior to 1 April from  (a) members of the Prison Service,  (b) members of the public and  (c) members of the Department and its agencies alerting it to the non-implementation of deportation rules for incarcerated foreign nationals; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what discussions his Department had with other governments on the deportation of foreign nationals during the period when he has identified failures in following procedures;
	(3)  what instructions were issued to departmental officials once the failure to deport incarcerated foreign nationals had been identified; when such instructions were issued; and if he will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary and his predecessor have provided regular updates to the House on all aspects of the recent events concerning the Department's handling of the deportation of foreign national prisoners who were released without consideration. In particular I refer the hon. Member to the most recent written ministerial statement of 23 May 2006,  Official Report, column 77WS, where the Home Secretary sets out his analysis of the Department, the eight priority areas set out for management action to rectify these and required organisational improvements. In a written ministerial statement today my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has also updated the House on the latest statistical position in respect of this matter.

Foreign Offenders

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what dates foreign national offenders have been released from prison without consideration for deportation since July 2005; for what crime each was originally imprisoned; and what crime each has committed since their release.

John Reid: I have updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Foreign Offenders

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many of the 79 foreign national offenders released from prison without consideration for deportation who had been in jail for serious offences were originally convicted of sex offences; for what offences each was originally convicted; how many have been traced; how many have been detained; and how many have been served with deportation orders;
	(2)  on what date he gave police forces the details of the 1,023 foreign national offenders who had been released from prison without consideration for deportation;
	(3)  how many foreign national offenders had been served with deportation orders but were instead released into the community in each year since 1999; how many of these were  (a) monitored,  (b) tagged and  (c) given probation orders; and what offence each had committed;
	(4)  how many of the foreign national offenders previously convicted of serious offences have been detained; for what type of offence each was originally convicted; and what the date of detention of each was.

Liam Byrne: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on these matters today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Foreign Offenders

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many foreign nationals who have been released from UK prisons since 1999 have subsequently applied for asylum in the UK; and what the country of origin was of the offenders;
	(2)  pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 25 April 2006,  Official Report, column 37WS, on deportation and removal of foreign nationals, how many foreign national criminals were  (a) permitted to be in the UK,  (b) had exceeded their leave to be in the UK and  (c) were in the UK illegally when they were convicted and imprisoned;
	(3)  how many deportation orders for foreign offenders in UK prisons are awaiting processing by the immigration and nationality directorate; when the cases were brought to the attention of the immigration and nationality directorate; and what crimes had been committed;
	(4)  how many foreign offenders have appealed against deportation orders served against them in each year since 1999; and how many of these appeals were successful in each year;
	(5)  pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 25 April 2006,  Official Report, column 37WS, on deportation and removal of foreign nationals, how many foreign national criminals have been detained; for what type of offence each was originally convicted; and what the date of detention was of each;
	(6)  how many foreign national offenders have been deported having served their sentence in UK prisons in each year since 1999; and what the average length of time taken from the immigration and nationality directorate receiving details of the case to the deportation order being issued was in each year.

John Reid: I have updated the House on these matters today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Foreign Offenders

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign national offenders in UK prisons are due to be deported by 1 January 2007; and what the country of origin is of each.

Liam Byrne: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary and his predecessor have provided regular updates to the House on all aspects of the recent events concerning the Department's handling of the deportation of foreign national prisoners who were released without consideration. In particular I refer the right hon. Member to the most recent written ministerial statement of 23 May 2006,  Official Report 446, column 77WS, where the Home Secretary sets out his analysis of the Department, the eight priority areas set out for management action to rectify these and required organisational improvements. In a written ministerial statement today my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has also updated the House on the latest statistical position in respect of this matter.

Foreign Offenders

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many foreign nationals released after incarceration since 1997 who were not deported were asylum seekers subsequently granted  (a) right to remain and  (b) UK nationality;
	(2)  whether any foreign nationals who were not assessed for deportation on release from prison have been identified as linked with  (a) organised crime and  (b) international terrorism;
	(3)  how many foreign nationals released after incarceration since 1997 have not been deported, including those who have been fully processed; and how many have reoffended;
	(4)  what the nationalities are of the foreign national prisoners he has identified as not having been deported after release.

Liam Byrne: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on these matters today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Foreign Offenders

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps his Department takes to prevent foreign nationals who have been deported from the United Kingdom returning to the country using false identities; and if he will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary and his predecessor have provided regular updates to the House on all aspects of the recent events concerning the Departments handling of the deportation of foreign national prisoners who were released without consideration. In particular I refer the hon. Member to the most recent written ministerial statement of 23 May 2006,  Official Report, column 77WS, where the Home Secretary sets out his analysis of the Department, the eight priority areas set out for management action to rectify these and required organisational improvements. In a written ministerial statement today my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has also updated the House on the latest statistical position in respect of this matter.

Foreign Offenders

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether foreign nationals who were not assessed for deportation after release from prison have been identified by  (a) national and  (b) foreign agencies as sought for (i) possible extradition and (ii) helping police with their inquiries.

Liam Byrne: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Foreign Offenders

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign criminals released from prison in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years have not been considered for deportation.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 9 May 2006
	I refer the hon. Member to the most recent written ministerial statement of 23 May 2006,  Official Report, column 77WS. My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary set out in this statement the eight priority areas for management action to deliver our long term agenda for change on radically improving the system for deporting foreign national prisoners. The sixth point deals specifically with the position in Scotland and Northern Ireland concerning foreign national prisoners. We shall update the House with our progress on this point shortly.

Foreign Offenders

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions take place when an overseas prisoner sentenced for crimes committed in the UK is returned to his country of origin to complete the remainder of his sentence as to the date of the release of such a person from prison; and if he will make a statement.

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library the instructions issued to judges and magistrates regarding recommendations on deportation for convicted criminals.

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when departmental ministers were first informed of the failure to deport incarcerated foreign nationals; what the method was for such notification; and when he was first briefed.

Liam Byrne: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary and his predecessor have provided regular updates to the House on all aspects of the recent events concerning the Department's handling of the deportation of foreign national prisoners who were released without consideration. In particular I refer the hon. Members to the most recent written ministerial statement of 23 May 2006,  Official Report, column 77WS, where the Home Secretary sets out his analysis of the Department, the eight priority areas set out for management action to rectify these and required organisational improvements. In a written ministerial statement today my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has also updated the House on the latest statistical position in respect of this matter.

Foreign Offenders

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many foreign national prisoners have been held beyond the date of their scheduled release pending removal or deportation in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how many foreign national prisoners have been the subject of administrative removal following their sentence in each of the last five years;
	(3)  how many foreign national prisoners have been the subject of a deportation order issued by the Immigration Service in each of the last five years.

Liam Byrne: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on these matters today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Foreign Offenders

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  pursuant to his oral statement of 26 April 2006 on the deportation and removal of foreign nationals, how many of the foreign nationals recently released who were placed on the sex offenders register have complied with the terms of their release.
	(2)  how many of the foreign nationals recently released convicted of murder have been subject to supervision orders on release; and how many have complied with the terms of those orders.

Liam Byrne: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Foreign Offenders

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the releases of foreign prisoners announced in his written statement on 26 April 2006 took place in the Leeds and Yorkshire region.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 4 May 2006
	My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Foreign Offenders

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many foreign prisoners have been released from Bullingdon prison without being considered for deportation in the last 12 months;
	(2)  how many foreign prisoners who have completed their sentences and have not been voluntarily deported remain at  (a) Bullingdon Prison and  (b) HM prisons in England and Wales.

Liam Byrne: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on these matters today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Foreign Offenders

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many foreign nationals are held at HMP Long Lartin; and what proportion of the prison's population this represents;
	(2)  how many foreign nationals released from HMP Long Lartin since February 1999 have  (a) been deported and  (b) not been deported; and for what crimes they have been imprisoned.

Liam Byrne: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on these matters today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Foreign Offenders

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign nationals are detained at HMP Peterborough; what percentage of the total prison population at HMP Peterborough this represents; how many foreign nationals were released from HMP Peterborough in the 12 months to 31 March 2006; and if he will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 2 May 2006
	My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Foreign Offenders

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what level of resources have been diverted to tracking down the 1,023 foreign prisoners released without being considered for deportation.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 2 May 2006
	My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary and his predecessor have provided regular updates to the House on all aspects of the recent events concerning the Department's handling of the deportation of foreign national prisoners who were released without consideration. In particular I refer the hon. Member to the most recent written ministerial statement of 23 May 2006,  Official Report, column 77WS, where the Home Secretary sets out his analysis of the Department, the eight priority areas set out for management action to rectify these and required organisational improvements. In a written ministerial statement today my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has also updated the House on the latest statistical position in respect of this matter.

Foreign Offenders

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many foreign nationals released from prison in each year since February 1999 have subsequently reoffended, broken down by category of those subsequent offences in  (a) England and Wales and  (b) Gloucestershire;
	(2)  how many foreign national criminals have been released from Gloucestershire prisons in each year since February 1999, broken down by  (a) prison and  (b) offence;
	(3)  how many foreign national criminals are being held in prison in Gloucestershire, broken down by  (a) prison and  (b) offence.

Liam Byrne: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on these matters today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Foreign Offenders

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his written statement of 25 April 2006,  Official Report, columns 37-8WS, on deportation and removal of foreign nationals, 
	(1)  how many foreign national prisoners have been released without the appropriate consideration of deportation or removal who on conviction had a previous home address in a London borough, broken down by  (a) borough and  (b) offence; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many foreign national prisoners have been released from each London prison without the appropriate consideration of deportation or removal, broken down by offence; and if he will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: holding answers 2 May 2006
	My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on these matters today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Foreign Offenders

David Wilshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign nationals are being held in Bronzefield Prison in Ashford, broken down by offence; when each is due for release; and how many have been recommended by a judge for deportation.

Liam Byrne: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Foreign Offenders

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the prisons which have not referred serious offenders for consideration for deportation prior to release; and if he will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Foreign Offenders

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  whether all prisons routinely refer foreign national prisoners for consideration for deportation and removal; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the reasons for the non-referral of foreign national criminals for consideration for deportation or removal; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what instructions were issued to prisons on the procedures to be followed in relation to foreign national criminals and their consideration for deportation or removal prior to September 2004; and if he will make a statement;
	(4)  what target the immigration and nationality directorate sets for the period within which cases of failed asylum applicants in detention for criminal offences which are referred to them should be reviewed.
	(5)  whether there is an individual officer in the Prison Service with responsibility for referring foreign national criminals for consideration for deportation or removal; and if he will make a statement;
	(6)  what steps the immigration and nationality directorate has taken to ensure that travel documentation for failed asylum applicants in detention for criminal offences is issued in a timely fashion.

Liam Byrne: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary and his predecessor have provided regular updates to the House on all aspects of the recent events concerning the Department's handling of the deportation of foreign national prisoners who were released without consideration. In particular I refer the hon. Member to the most recent written ministerial statement of 23 May 2006,  Official Report, column 77WS, where the Home Secretary sets out his analysis of the Department, the eight priority areas set out for management action to rectify these and required organisational improvements. In a written ministerial statement today my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has also updated the House on the latest statistical position in respect of this matter.

Foreign Offenders

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his oral statement,  Official Report, on 26 April 2006, how many foreign prisoners were released from each prison before a decision had been taken on their deportation.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 1 May 2006
	My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Foreign Offenders

Douglas Hogg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many foreign nationals released from prison since 1 August 2005 have been  (a) charged with and  (b) convicted of criminal offences, broken down by offence;
	(2)  how many of the foreign nationals released since 1 July 2005 were the subject of a judicial recommendation that consideration should be given as to their deportation; and for what offences offenders subject to such a recommendation were convicted.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 2 May 2006
	My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on these matters matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Foreign Offenders

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many inmates have been deported on release from prisons in the UK in each week of 2006 to date.

David Heathcoat-Amory: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners whose sentence included a recommendation for deportation have been  (a) released and  (b) released onto parole from Shepton Mallet prison since 1999; and how many were duly deported.

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the 1,023 foreign prisoners released from prison between February 1999 and March 2006 without being considered for deportation prior to their release  (a) came to the UK (i) on a visitor's visa, (ii) on a work permit and (iii) as asylum seekers known to the authorities but not granted asylum,  (b) were not known to the authorities before their arrests and  (c) were citizens of other EU countries.

Lee Scott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign national prisoners whose last residential address was in Ilford North  (a) should have been assessed for deportation,  (b) were assessed for deportation and  (c) were deported on release from prison in each of the last five years.

Liam Byrne: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on these matters today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Foreign Offenders

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  on how many occasions staff from the immigration and nationality directorate failed to attend a prison to process the release of a foreign offender in each month since January 1999; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many visits were made by staff from the immigration and nationality directorate to prisons in England and Wales to process the release of foreign offenders in each month since January 1999; and if he will make a statement.

John Reid: My predecessor and I have provided regular updates to the House on all aspects of the recent events concerning the Department's handling of the deportation of foreign national prisoners who were released without consideration. In particular I refer the right hon. Member to the most recent written ministerial statement of 23 May 2006,  Official report, column 77WS, where I set out my analysis of the Department, the eight priority areas set out for management action to rectify these and required organisational improvements. In a written ministerial statement today I have also updated the House on the latest statistical position in respect of this matter.

Foreign Offenders

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many of the foreign nationals convicted of offences in the UK  (a) considered for deportation and  (b) recommended by the courts for consideration for deportation in each year since 1997 subsequently claimed asylum in the UK;
	(2)  how many of the foreign nationals given non-custodial sentences and for whom deportation was recommended to be considered were deported in each of the last five years.

Liam Byrne: holding answers 8 May 2006
	My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Foreign Offenders

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in how many cases foreign nationals were convicted and given non-custodial sentences in each of the last five years.

Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many foreign nationals released from prison in the East Riding of Yorkshire in each year since February 1999 have subsequently re-offended, broken down by category of subsequent offence;
	(2)  how many of the foreign nationals released from prison whose whereabouts are known to his Department have been identified as living in the East Riding of Yorkshire; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  how many foreign national criminals have been held in prisons in the East Riding of Yorkshire in each of the last five years, broken down by  (a) prison and  (b) offence; and if he will make a statement.

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many foreign prisoners have been released from jails in Sussex without having their cases reviewed for deportation;
	(2)  how many foreign prisoners released without having their cases reviewed for deportation were  (a) arrested in Sussex and  (b) gave Sussex as their last address.

David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the foreign national offenders released from prison without consideration for deportation were last known to be resident in the North Wales police area.

Liam Byrne: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on these matters today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Foreign Offenders

John Greenway: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign prisoners  (a) held in UK prisons and  (b) released within the past 12 months who were recommended for deportation are citizens (i) of the EU accession countries and (ii) of other EU countries.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 11 May 2006
	My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Foreign Offenders

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign national prisoners whose last residential address was in  (a) Essex and  (b) Southend, West (i) were recommended for consideration for deportation, (ii) were assessed for deportation, (iii) were deported and (iv) were not deported on release from prison in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 22 May 2006
	My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Foreign Offenders

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign nationals  (a) are serving and  (b) have completed prison sentences in Lancashire for (i) murder, (ii) manslaughter, (iii) grievous bodily harm, (iv) rape and (v) sexual offences against children; and how many of those released in each category (A) were deported after release in each of the last five years and (B) served half their sentence or less.

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign nationals convicted of offences in the UK and sentenced to imprisonment have been convicted of further offences in this country having been released from prison in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Julie Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign prisoners were held in  (a) HMP Hewell Grange,  (b) HMP Brockhill and  (c) HMP Blakenhurst in each year since 1997; and how many of those in each prison were (i) considered for deportation and (ii) deported in each year.

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign prisoners have been released from prison but not deported, broken down by police authority.

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign prisoners were released without due deportation review process, broken down by prison; and if any prisoners were granted provisions to facilitate onward passage from the main gate.

Liam Byrne: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on these matters today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Foreign Offenders

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many convicted prisoners recommended for deportation were transferred to open prisons in the last 12 months; and how many of these prisoners  (a) absconded and  (b) have not been recaptured.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 19 June 2006
	My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Foreign Offenders

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the foreign nationals detained at  (a) Highdown and  (b) Downview prison on 1 July 2005 had been released by 1 April 2006; and how many of those released have subsequently been deported.

Liam Byrne: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Foreign Offenders

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of the foreign prisoners released into the community without proper application of the deportation review process were illegal immigrants.

Liam Byrne: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Foreign Offenders

Douglas Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures are in place to ensure that those prisoners who  (a) entered and  (b) remained in the country illegally are deported on completion of their sentences; and if he will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary and his predecessor have provided regular updates to the House on all aspects of the recent events concerning the Department's handling of the deportation of foreign national prisoners who were released without consideration. In particular I refer the hon. Member to the most recent written ministerial statement of 23 May 2006,  Official Report, column 77WS, where the Home Secretary sets out his analysis of the Department, the eight priority areas set out for management action to rectify these and required organisational improvements. In a written ministerial statement today my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has also updated the House on the latest statistical position in respect of this matter.

Foreign Offenders

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what plans he has to identify the nationality of those prisoners whose nationality is not currently recorded;
	(2)  what the standard procedure is for identifying the nationality of offenders when they are  (a) arrested,  (b) sentenced and  (c) admitted to prison; and if he will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary and his predecessor have provided regular updates to the House on all aspects of the recent events concerning the Department's handling of the deportation of foreign national prisoners who were released without consideration. In particular I refer the hon. Member to the most recent written ministerial statement of 23 May 2006,  Official Report, column 77WS, where the Home Secretary sets out his analysis of the Department, the eight priority areas set out for management action to rectify these and required organisational improvements. In a written ministerial statement today my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has also updated the House on the latest statistical position in respect of this matter.

Foreign Offenders

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his statement of 23 May 2006, on Prisoners: Foreign Nationals, how many of the  (a) serious and  (b) most serious offenders are held in a custodial setting; and what the term 'under our control' means.

Liam Byrne: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Foreign Offenders

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign nationals  (a) are serving and  (b) have completed in each of the past five years, prison sentences in Hampshire for (i) murder, (ii) manslaughter, (iii) grievous bodily harm, (iv) rape and (v) sexual offences against children; and how many of those released in each category were deported after release.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 11 May 2006
	My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Foreign Offenders

Richard Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign prisoners have been released from prison in Suffolk in the last five years.

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in which prison each foreign prisoner released but not deported was last held.

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign prisoners are being held in each prison in Greater London.

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign nationals sought for deportation by his Department were released from  (a) Cardiff,  (b) Bridgend and  (c) Swansea prisons during the period 2004 to 2006.

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign nationals are held in prisons in West Sussex; and how many of these are liable for deportation on release.

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the 1,019 foreign prisoners released without consideration for deportation are now under police control; and if he will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on these matters today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.

Foreign Travel

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was spent on foreign travel by his Department in each of the last eight years.

Liam Byrne: I am advised that the figures for overseas travel for Home Office civil servants since 1998 are as provided in the following table.
	The rise in expenditure reflects increased activity in football disorder spending, increased spending due to world cup preparations and banning order operations (CRCSG); increase in overseas travel of Juxtaposed Controls officers and Air Line Liaison officers (IND).
	Juxtaposed Controls were set up as part of the strategy to reduce asylum intake and became fully operational from September 2004. The Controls are based at the Channel Tunnel, the French Seaports of Calais, Dunkerque and Boulogne and the Eurostar terminals at Brussels, Paris, Lille and Frethun. The Juxtaposed Controls counter and deter illegal migration, focusing equally on preventing clandestine illegal entrants and fraudulent use of documents.
	Juxtaposed Controls in Calais provide a significant layer of security, increasing pressure on facilitators and racketeers who profit from attempting to smuggle people through to the UK. Facilitators are handed to the French Border Control law Enforcement Agency PAF, and appear in court soon after.
	
		
			   Overseas (£) 
			 1998 885,401 
			 1999 1,433,681 
			 2000 1,383,602 
			 2001 2,070,148 
			 2002 2,350,067 
			 2003 4,447,233 
			 2004 5,845,214 
			 2005 7,187,896

Forensic Science Service

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what dividends were paid by the Forensic Science Service to Government in each of the past five years.

Joan Ryan: The dividends paid by the Forensic Science Service to the Government in each of the past five years are set out in the following table:
	
		
			  Dividends paid  £000 
			 Period to 4 December 2005 3,834 
			 Year end 31 March 2005 1,438 
			 Year end 31 March 2004 1,438 
			 Year end 31 March 2003 1,438 
			 Year end 31 March 2002 1,438

Forensic Science Service

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much each police force in Wales has spent on fees to the Forensic Science Service in each of the past five years.

Joan Ryan: The Forensic Science Service (FSS) is no longer an Executive agency of the Home Office but is now a limited company, wholly owned by the Home Office. As such, it is a commercial organisation operating in a competitive environment. The information requested concerning the income generated from individual police forces could have adverse commercial consequences for the FSS if released and could serve to benefit private forensic science service providers who compete for business against the FSS, but who are not subject to parliamentary scrutiny in the same way. I am therefore unable to provide a detailed answer. However, it is open to the hon. Member to take up her inquiry direct with the chief executive of the FSS who, I am sure, will be prepared to provide as much information as is consistent with the principles of commercial confidentiality.

Forensic Science Service

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of the income received by the Forensic Science Service came from police forces in England and Wales in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Joan Ryan: The percentage of the income received by the Forensic Science Service, which came from police forces in England and Wales in each of the last five years, is displayed in the following table:
	
		
			  Forensic Science Service percentage income: police forces 
			   Percentage 
			 Period to 4 December 2005 90.9 
			 Year end 31 March 2005 90.1 
			 Year end 31 March 2004 91.6 
			 Year end 31 March 2003 92.8 
			 Year end 31 March 2002 91.1

Gibraltar

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Gibraltar residents have taken up residence in the UK in each of the last seven years.

Liam Byrne: We do not collect data on Gibraltar residents who take up residence in the UK.

Knife Amnesty

Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many knives have been handed in during the amnesty in  (a) Kingston and Surbiton constituency,  (b) South West London and  (c) London.

Vernon Coaker: Figures for the number of items handed in during the first week of the knife amnesty were published on 16 June 2006. These figures are collected at police force level. The Metropolitan Police reported that 772 items had been surrendered in the first week of the knife amnesty. The total number of items handed in England and Wales was 17,715.

National Wildlife Crime Intelligence Unit

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the likely impact on the investigation of organised wildlife crime of the decision not to include the National Wildlife Crime Intelligence Unit within the new Serious Organised Crime Agency.

Vernon Coaker: During the creation of SOCA, discussions took place with stakeholders about the best arrangements for the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU). It was agreed this particular issue would be led by the police with other agencies working with them.

Research Budget

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of the Department's budget was spent on researching new technologies in the last period for which figures are available.

Joan Ryan: For the latest Government-wide figures on the percentage of Government expenditure researching new technologies, I refer to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Member for Poplar and Canning Town (Jim Fitzpatrick) on 21 June 2006 showing R and D expenditure broken down by department for 2003-04. The Home Office figure in that table did not separately identify or estimate the research expenditure on new technologies from the Government services category. Overall the table shows the Home Office spent 0.64 per cent. of its budget on R and D work in 2003-04.
	Further breakdowns on planned expenditure on Science and Technology, in the Home Office and its agencies are set out in our latest Science and Innovation strategy 2005-08 available on the Home Office website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/science-strategy. pdf?view=Binary
	
		
			  Analysis of net Government R & D expenditure by primary purpose and department: 2003-04 
			   Primary purpose A( 1) : General support  (£ million)  As percentage of total department budget  Primary purpose B( 2) : Government services  (£ million)  As percentage of total department budget  Primary purpose C( 3) : Policy support  (£ million)  As percentage of total department budget 
			  Civil departments   
			 DEFRA 16.9 0.33 6.0 0.12 128.8 2.52 
			 DfES — — 17.0 3.23 33.8 6.42 
			 ODPM 0.3 0.01 3.2 0.07 26.9 0.61 
			 DfT 0.1 0.00 10.6 0.16 41.0 0.61 
			 DH (includes NHS) 2.8 0.00 557.6 0.95 31.4 0.05 
			 DWP (formerly DSS) — — 12.1 0.01 6.4 0.01 
			 HSC — — — — 14.1 7.24 
			 HO — — 42.2 0.56 5.7 0.08 
			 DCMS (formerly DNH) 6.2 0.22 0.8 0.03 7.4 0.26 
			 DFID (formerly ODA) — — 214.9 5.49 0.0 0.00 
			 DTI  (ex OST) — — — — 15.7 0.39 
			 NI departments — — 1.6 0.01 19.1 0.16 
			 SE (formerly SO) 17.5 0.13 52.2 0.38 20.5 0.15 
			 NAW (formerly WO) 4.5 0.07 18.1 0.28 8.5 0.13 
			 FSA — — — — — n/a 
			 Other departments 1.3 0.00 13.3 0.04 11.4 0.04 
			 Total 49.7 0.03 949.5 0.55 370.8 0.23 
			
			 MOD — — 2,676.6 8.92 — — 
			
			 Total 3,597.5 1.58 3,733.9 1.64 421.6 0.19 
		
	
	
		
			   Primary purpose D4: Technology support  (£ million)  As percentage of total department budget  Total R & D  (£ million)  As percentage of total department budget 
			  Civil departments 
			 DEFRA 29.2 0.57 181.0 3.55 
			 DfES 1.2 0.23 52.0 9.88 
			 ODPM — — 30.4 0.69 
			 DfT 7.1 0.11 58.8 0.88 
			 DH (includes NHS) 1.1 0.00 593.0 1.01 
			 DWP (formerly DSS) — — 18.4 0.02 
			 HSC — — 14.1 7.24 
			 HO — — 48.0 0.64 
			 DCMS (formerly DNH) — — 15.2 0.54 
			 DFID (formerly ODA) — — 214.9 5.49 
			 DTI (ex OST) 455.0 11.34 470.8 11.73 
			 NI departments — — 20.6 0.18 
			 SE (formerly SO) 38.3 0.28 128.5 0.93 
			 NAW (formerly WO) — — 31.1 0.47 
			 FSA — — — n/a 
			 Other departments 4.2 0.01 30.2 0.09 
			 Total 537.0 0.31 1,907.1 1.11 
			  
			 MOD — — 2,676.6 8.92 
			  
			 Total 610.4 0.27 8,363.4 3.68 
			 n/a = not applicable. (1 )Primary Purpose A, general support for research-all basic and applied R & D which advances knowledge for its own sake; support for postgraduate research studentships (PhDs). (2) Primary Purpose B, Government services-R & D relevant to any aspect of Government service provision (all defence included here). (3) Primary Purpose C, policy support-R & D which Government funds to inform policy (excluding ppB and ppD) and for monitoring developments of significance for the welfare of the population. (4) Primary Purpose D, technology support-applied R & D that advances technology underpinning the UK economy (but excluding defence). The category includes strategic as well as applied research, and pre-competitive research under schemes such as LINK.  Source: ONS Government R & D Survey

Sexual Assaults (Recovery Centres)

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many  (a) rape crisis and  (b) sexual assault recovery centres supported by his Department there are in England and Wales; and where they are located;
	(2)  what funding for  (a) rape crisis and  (b) sexual assault recovery centres his Department has provided in each financial year since 1997;
	(3)  what the  (a) purpose is and  (b) objectives are of (i) rape crisis and (ii) sexual assault recovery centres funded by his Department.

Vernon Coaker: Details of the names, locations and funding awarded to sexual assault referral centres and rape crisis organisations are provided in the following table. This information dates back to 2001-02 for rape crisis and to 2003-04 for sexual assault referral centres. Information preceding this is not readily available. The overall purpose of sexual assault referral centres is to deliver a holistic and high quality service to victims of rape and sexual assault including medical care, counselling and support, and to provide enhanced facilities for gathering evidence. Rape crisis provides a network of co-ordination, support and advocacy for member voluntary and community organisations. Each rape crisis centre and sexual assault referral centre will have its own objectives.
	
		
			  Funding for sexual assault referral centres (SARCs) and rape crisis centres 
			   Location  Amount (£) 
			  SARC   
			  2003-04   
			 Rowan Centre Walsall, West Midlands 50,000 
			 Renton Clinic Dartford, Kent 30,000 
			 Millfield House Codner, Derbyshire 20,000 
			 Rivergate Centre (now closed) Peterborough, Cambridgeshire 20,000 
			 Hampshire SARC (under development) Portsmouth, Hampshire 50,000 
			 Juniper Lodge Leicester, Leicestershire 16,500 
			 Reach Newcastle, Northumbria 16,500 
			 SAFE Centre Preston, Lancashire 17,000 
			  Total 220,000 
			
			  2004-05   
			 New Pathways—Willow House Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales 70,000 
			 Meadowfield Suite Durham 70,000 
			 Swindon Sanctuary Swindon, Wiltshire 70,000 
			 St. Mary's Manchester, Greater Manchester 20,000 
			 SAFE Centre Preston, Lancashire 20,000 
			 Haven Whitechapel and Haven Paddington London 40,000 
			 Millfield House Codner, Derbyshire 20,000 
			  Total 310,000 
			
			  2005-06   
			 Project Amethyst (children) North West London 50,000 
			 St. Mary's (children) Manchester, Greater Manchester 50,000 
			 St. Mary's (adult) Manchester, Greater Manchester 7,000 
			 Calderdale Women's Centre (under development) Calderdale, West Yorkshire 70,000 
			 Kirklees (under development) Kirklees, West Yorkshire 70,000 
			 Cleveland (under development) Middlesbrough, Cleveland 70,000 
			 Laburnum House Risca, Gwent 70,000 
			 North Wales SARC (under development) Colwyn Bay, North Wales 70,000 
			 Lift Project (under development) Hanley, Staffordshire 24,000 
			 Juniper Lodge Leicester, Leicestershire 20,000 
			 Millfield House Codnor, Derbyshire 26,098 
			 New Pathways—Willow House Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales 35,000 
			 Haven Camberwell, Haven Paddington, Haven Whitechapel London 55,500 
			 SAFE Centre Preston, Lancashire 18,408 
			 Rowan Centre Walsall, West Midlands 35,000 
			 Meadowfield Suite Durham 2,474 
			 REACH (adult) Newcastle, Northumbria 14,350 
			 REACH (children) Newcastle, Northumbria 20,000 
			 Renton Clinic Dartford, Kent 1,270 
			  Total 709,100 
			  Grand Total 1,239,100 
			
			  Rape Crisis Branch   
			  2001-02   
			 Rape Crisis Federation National 406,000 
			
			  2002-03   
			 Rape Crisis Federation National 432,000 
			
			  2003-04   
			 Rape Crisis Federation National 209,800 
			
			  2004-05   
			 Colchester Rape Crisis Line Colchester 35,450 
			 Cornwall Rape and Sexual Abuse Cornwall 8,120 
			 Coventry Rape and Sexual Abuse centre Coventry 4,910 
			 Doncaster Rape and Sexual Abuse Counselling Service Doncaster 3,066 
			 Grimsby and Scunthorpe Rape Crisis Grimsby 6,102 
			 Merseyside Rape and Sexual abuse Centre Merseyside 12,672 
			 Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre Warrington 5,995 
			 Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre Warrington 7,745 
			 Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre Croydon 27,080 
			 Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre North West Wales 7,685 
			 Rape and Sexual Violence Project Birmingham 12,500 
			 The Rape Crisis Co-ordination Group National 18,200 
			 Southampton Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse C.S. Southampton 3,700 
			 South Essex Rape and Incest Crisis Centre South Essex 31,520 
			 Worcestershire Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre Worcestershire 23,439 
			  Total 209,184 
			  2005-06   
			 Barnsley Sexual Abuse and Rape Crisis centre Barnsley 40,000 
			 Colchester rape Crisis line Colchester 35,000 
			 Cornwall Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre Cornwall 36,110 
			 Doncaster Rape and Sexual Abuse Counselling Service Doncaster 36,150 
			 Grimsby and Scunthorpe Rape Crisis Grimsby 24,405 
			 Manchester Rape Crisis Manchester 30,000 
			 Merseyside rape and Sexual Abuse Centre Merseyside 22,500 
			 Nottingham Rape Crisis Nottingham 26,515 
			 Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre Guildford Guilford 40,000 
			 Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre Warrington Warrington 40,000 
			 Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre Warrington Warrington 35,000 
			 Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre Croydon Croydon 40,000 
			 Rape and Sexual Abuse support Centre North West Wales North West Wales 35,000 
			 Rape and Sexual Violence Project Birmingham Birmingham 40,000 
			 The Rape Crisis Co-ordination Group National 30,000 
			 Southampton Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Counselling Service Southampton 35,000 
			 South Essex Rape and Incest Centre — 30,000 
			 West Cumbria Rape Crisis Cumbria 35,000 
			 Worcestershire Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre Worcestershire 24,142 
			  Total 634,822 
			
			  2006-07   
			 The Winchester RASAC South East Winchester 30,000 
			 South Essex Rape and Incest Crisis Centre East of England (Thurrock Basildon and Brentwood) 30,000 
			 Wycombe Rape Crisis South East (South Buckinghamshire, Reading, Slough and Bracknell) 26,750 
			 Doncaster Rape and Sexual Abuse Counselling Centre Yorkshire and the Humber 30,000 
			 Nottingham Rape Crisis Centre East Midlands Nottingham 30,000 
			 Aylesbury Vale Rape Crisis South East Aylesbury 24,300 
			 Bradford Rape Crisis and Sexual Assault Survivors Yorkshire and the Humberside 30,000 
			 Gloucestershire Rape Crisis Centre South West Gloucestershire 10,000 
			 Tyneside Rape Crisis Centre North East Tyneside 29,988 
			 Grimsby and Scunthorpe Rape Crisis Yorkshire and Humberside Grimsby and Scunthorpe 29,930 
			 Rape Crisis Co-ordination Group England and Wales National 30,000 
			 Colchester Rape Crisis East of England Colchester 30,000 
			 Peterborough Rape Crisis Counselling Group East of England Peterborough 20,000 
			  Total 350,968 
			  Grand Total Rape Crisis 1,194,974 
			  Grand Total Rape Crisis and SARCs 2,434,074 
			  Note: Rape crisis organisations (other sexual violence voluntary sector organisations were also given grants but are not detailed here as this information was not requested).

Violent Deaths

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been killed in England and Wales in each year since 1990 by the use of  (a) a knife,  (b) a gun and  (c) another weapon.

Vernon Coaker: The available information relates to offences currently recorded as homicide that were caused by  (a) a sharp instrument, which includes other sharp instruments as well as knives,  (b) shooting, which includes crossbows as well as guns, and  (c) all other methods.
	Data on apparent method of killing are released annually in a Supplementary Volume to the 'Crime in England and Wales' publication. Information for the period 1990 to 2004-05 are given in the following tables.
	
		
			  Offences currently( 1)  recorded as homicide by apparent method of killing and sex of victim: England and Wales, 1990 to 2004-05( 2) 
			  Number 
			  Apparent method  1990  1991  1992  1993  1994  1995  1996  1997 
			 Sharp instrument 178 217 218 182 231 243 197 200 
			 Blunt instrument 74 62 50 66 55 78 68 71 
			 Hitting, kicking, etc. 94 116 117 97 94 106 81 99 
			 Strangulation(3) 81 94 79 89 104 83 77 64 
			 Shooting(4) 59 50 52 71 63 66 47 58 
			 Explosion 2 1 4 3 — 1 2 1 
			 Burning 28 33 21 14 39 33 24 29 
			 Drowning(5) 4 8 14 6 13 3 9 7 
			 Poison or drugs(6) 9 19 11 9 17 16 28 17 
			 Motor vehicle(7) 12 13 9 9 5 6 2 12 
			 Other 7 8 4 14 4 19 44 37 
			 Not known 7 2 2 5 7 9 6 14 
			 Total 555 623 581 565 632 663 585 609 
		
	
	
		
			  Number 
			  Apparent method  1997-98  1998-99  1999-2000  2000-01  2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05 
			 Sharp instrument 202 201 212 214 261 266 234 236 
			 Blunt instrument 68 65 70 76 60 47 68 61 
			 Hitting, kicking, etc. 103 89 94 102 146 147 133 124 
			 Strangulation(3) 61 78 56 148 77 64 67 60 
			 Shooting(4) 52 46 61 72 97 75 69 77 
			 Explosion 1 2 4 — 1 4 — 2 
			 Burning 28 32 13 18 29 22 30 34 
			 Drowning(5) 6 6 6 9 12 6 24 14 
			 Poison or drugs(6) 17 47 53 32 33 201 22 30 
			 Motor vehicle(7) 13 14 11 18 20 21 22 20 
			 Other 38 43 41 68 37 51 47 45 
			 Not known 19 23 53 14 31 49 77 117 
			 Total 608 646 674 771 804 953 793 820 
			 (1) As at 28 November 2005; figures are subject to revision as cases are dealt with by the police and by the courts, or as further information becomes available. (2) Data taken from Home Office publications: 1994 to 2004-05 from HOSB 02/06; 1993 from HOSB 02/05; 1992 from HOSB 01/04; 1991 from HOSB 01/03; 1990 from CM 5312. (3) Including asphyxiation. Year 2000-01 includes 58 Chinese nationals who collectively suffocated in a lorry en route into the UK. (4) These figures may not agree with those in the firearms chapter because (a) figures include cases where the firearm was used as a blunt instrument and (b) homicide figures include shooting by crossbows and are compiled at a later date and take into account the results of police and court decisions. (5) Year 2003-04 includes 20 cockle pickers who drowned in Morecambe Bay. (6 )Year 2002-03 includes 172 victims of Dr. Harold Shipman. (7) Excluding death by careless/dangerous driving and aggravated vehicle taking.

War Criminals

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which convicted war criminals are serving sentences in the UK; how long a sentence each is serving; and where each is held.

Joan Ryan: There are two prisoners currently serving sentences of imprisonment in the UK for crimes falling within this description. Radislav Krstic is serving a 35 year sentence for crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia. The prisoner was transferred to the UK in 2004 in accordance with the Sentence Enforcement Agreement between the UK and the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Farayadi Sawar Zardad, serving a sentence of 20 years, was convicted in the UK of crimes committed in Afghanistan. It would be inappropriate for operational reasons to disclose the prisons in which they are held.